


KHR: The Inheritance Project - Prelude

by Tory_The_Kitteh



Series: 11th Generation Vongola [1]
Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Bullying, Childhood, Friendship, Gen, Humor, Next Generation, Supernatural Elements, twinfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-16
Updated: 2016-07-16
Packaged: 2018-07-24 07:41:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 36,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7499790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tory_The_Kitteh/pseuds/Tory_The_Kitteh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Its not easy growing up different. Cielo "Sora" Sawada knows that best of all. His younger twin brother, Masamune, doesn't know how easy he's got it. Between the bad grades, having next to no friends, no athletic ability and his twin's bullying you can say life really sucks for Cielo. Oh, did I forget to mention the invisible entity that's literally attached to his soul?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Prologue Project

**Author's Note:**

> I felt like uploading an older fic from my ff.net account. Wow, it feels like I wrote this forever ago... Will try to edit it a little bit. 
> 
> Also "Aigís" means "shield" in Greek (according to google translate).

When I was six I had my very first and very last temper tantrum. My brother, Masamune, had already had about twenty seven by then, and he never really stopped having them. Up until that point I had never really understood the point of throwing a tantrum; all that screaming and crying would just give me, and everyone else, a headache not to mention a sore throat.

But then again, I'd only ever seen my spoilt brother crying over such trivial things, like not getting to hold Madre’s hand or not wanting to take a bath. I mean, what’s the point in crying over things that can’t be helped, right? At least, that’s what Aigís always tells me, and that’s what I always thought until the day I learnt two valuable lessons.

The first being, that there are times when the only way to be truly heard is to scream at the top of your lungs. That and to smash some of the furniture and break a few windows. The second lesson is one I’ll never forget for my whole life; there are some things that people simply can’t hear, no matter how long I cry for nor how loud I scream, my voice will never reach them.

But that doesn’t matter to me now; I’m already used to being ignored. I’m completely fine with it. So long as I have that person to acknowledge me and accept me for who I am then I don’t need anybody else. That’s right; so long as he’s there then I’m okay with being alone—ah, that’s not quite right. For, you see, I’m never truly alone. Right, Aigís?


	2. The New School Project

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Italics is people speaking Italian, while normal is Japanese. Bold text is Aigis talking (no one but Cielo can hear him).

I was seven, about a year after my “little outburst”, as my (not so) lovely aunt likes to call it, when we moved away from our home in Italy to a quiet town in Japan called Namimori. I, having spent my whole life in Italy, had next to no understanding of the language or the culture of Japan and yet only three days after moving in to our new house, I found myself standing at the front gates of Namimori Elementary School.

I just stood there and stared up listlessly at the huge building in front of me while my aunt was fussing over Masamune’s spikey mop of blonde hair. She had long since given up on my appearance, probably since I had the unique ability to trip on thin air and get so lost in thought that I tend to walk straight into, well, everything that happens to be in my path.

My red blazer had already lost a button, my tie wasn’t tied properly, my black shorts have a bit of dirt on them and my black school shoes didn’t look as shiny new as my brothers were. My spiky chestnut brown hair (with gold highlights) just flowed loosely over my shoulders. I never liked cutting it or tying it up.

Masamune, on the other hand, looked prim and proper. The complete opposite of me, but hey, just because we’re twins doesn’t mean we have to be the same as each other. Well, we are fraternal twins, _not_ identical. We don’t even look that much alike; he has sandy blonde hair and I’m brunet, he’s tall and I’m average height, he has brown eyes and I have… well, I have one blue-green eye; my left eye is hidden behind a white medical eye patch.

Any way back to my fussy Aunt Katerina…

“ _Now I know you’ve only been in Japan a few days and this is only your second year at school, but I have absolute confidence in your abilities_.” Aunt Katerina (I refuse to call her “Mama” like she insisted we should) beamed as she looked down at the two of us. _“After all, you are my sister’s sons and you’ll do our family proud_.”

Somehow I get the feeling she wasn’t talking to me as much as she was to Masamune. I guess that just makes me my father’s son or something like that. I do look more like him than Masamune does…

I know that Auntie hates Padre, and that Padre doesn’t like Auntie either. How she managed to talk him into letting her look after us I’ll never know. We were supposed to live with Nonna but nooo; she just had to go on a long trip with Nonno didn’t she. I really don’t want to live with auntie; I’d rather be on the streets than here at a school in Japan with her.

Opting to ignore her little pep talk I turn my attention back to the school yard.  There are so many kids running around squealing. There’s one bawling with tears and snot dripping down his chin while both the teachers and his parents try to calm him down. Merda, you’re only going to be apart for half a day, not like my Padre who had to stay in Italy for work.

“ _Ah, I want to go home_ …” I muttered miserably.

**“Oi, auntie is about to leave.”** Aigís pushed me lightly on the back.

Whoops totally spaced out again, oh well. I turned back to see auntie smiling cheerfully as she nudged us towards a young male teacher. I returned his overly cheerful grin with a half-hearted scowl walked past him ignoring the outstretched hand. Masamune stood back and watched auntie leave. As soon as he couldn’t see her anymore he started wailing, snot and tears soaking his face.

_“Oh for the love of… why does he have to such a drama queen_?” I mumbled under my breath.

**“As I recall you also cried when Padre left us with Aunt Katerina at the airport.”**

_“That’s different; she’ll be back after school, but I won’t see Padre for months_!” I shot back defensively.

The teacher was too busy trying in vain to calm Masamune down that he didn’t notice me muttering angrily to the air, like some other nosey people did. He was glancing around, obviously having no clue what to do to calm him down. Is this guy really a teacher? I sighed as I fished a handkerchief from my pocket.

_“Stop crying fratello, boys don’t cry.”_ I said with a half-smile as I thrust the hankie in front of his face.

He snatched it off me and blew his nose loudly; I think I’ll let him keep it. He stood there and sobbed into his hands for a while, I know better than to touch him since he’s been so afraid of me and Aigís lately. I sent a glare towards the parents that had the gall to stare when their own kids had been crying just as much as Masamune. He may be annoying and he’s scared of me, but he’s still my brother.

When he finally calmed down the teacher ushered us inside. “ _Saa, it’s time for class now.”_ He spoke such heavy accented Italian that I almost didn’t understand him. But I followed him inside with my brother in toe.

**………**

After a very awkward introduction we sat down at separate tables. Masamune got over his shyness during the first hour and was happily participating in the lesson. Seriously since when could he speak Japanese? Must be all those foreign cartoons (anime was it?) he watches, yeah that must be it…

However due to my lack of Japanese I opted to just stare blankly out the window the whole time. The sky was very pretty today, every now and then a puffy white cloud would float past. I smiled lightly as I remembered what Padre had told me before we left Italy; “ _No matter where you are in the world, we’ll still be living underneath the same sky.”_

Somehow it gave me comfort every time I looked up at the sky and remembered that. Padre had always been busy with work, sometimes he’s gone for months on end. That’s probably why whenever he comes home he spoils us rotten, especially since Madre was gone.

“A-ano…” a voice brought me out of my daze. Turning around there was a girl with two long black pigtails tied with bright pink ribbons standing next to me. Suddenly I noticed everyone else had gotten up from their seats. Must be playtime, how long was I out of it?

“M-my name is Kawamura Megumi. N-nice to m-meet you.” The girl stuttered at me, a group of kids came up behind her, laughing loudly and noisily. I just stared at them a while not understanding a single word the girl said. Although I vaguely understood it was a greeting. Yeah I think she’s saying hello…

**“Wake up, don’t keep a girl waiting.”** Once again Aigís snaps me out of my daze.

“… Buongiorno…” she’s still waiting maybe I should give my name too. “… Cielo Sawada.” Ah, wait don’t they do the names backwards here? Oh well… Why are they still there?

“Chaero-kun your Masamune-kun’s brother right?” Chaero? The hell— is that supposed to be my name? I continue to stare blankly while trying to think of how to say ‘I don’t speak Japanese so get lost.’

“Ha-ha, ano…” she glances back at a group of kids, probably her friends. “w-would you like to-” Stares blankly. “That is we were wondering i-if you would um….” Wow, her eyebrows are a weird shape. “I-I m-mean… t-that is… umm…” I really want to touch them, would she get upset if I did?

Another kid piped up when she seemingly couldn’t talk anymore. “Do you want to come and play with us? We’re gonna play with the blocks.” Once again, blank stare… they stood around awkwardly murmuring amongst themselves. What do you want dammit!

Aigís floated around behind them, inspecting them up close. They shivered a little, but then that eyebrow girl suddenly squealed loudly and they all screamed and ran away. I jumped in surprise at the high pitched voices. Totally did not see that coming.

_“What just happened?”_

**“Beats me.”**

I shrugged and turned my attention to the blank worksheet in front of me. For lack of anything better to do I just scribbled random pictures all over it. I was never very good at the whole ‘making friends’ thing and I don’t mind playing by myself. I’ve long since become used to it being just me and Aigís.

**………**

It was lunch time now and Masamune was playing in the sandbox with some classmates. “Your onii-chan is scary.” One boy with a neatly shaved head said as he glanced over at Cielo, who was sitting on a bench alone muttering to himself. “And really creepy. Did you see how he made that girl cry?”

Masamune looked up from his sandcastle and snorted. “You don’t know the half it. He’s possessed by a ghost or a demon or something!”

“Yeah right. Ghosts and demons don’t exist.” Scoffed one of the girls.

“It must be true! I swear something touched me on my forehead! And the way he was staring… it had to be his doing!” The girl with pigtails and funny eyebrows squealed.

“See, it’s the truth! He’s the reason we had to leave Italy. Otherwise the Vatican would have come after us! You should have seen what he did at our last school.” He shuddered at the memory.

“Hah? Uwatikan? What’s that?” the first boy questioned.

“It’s _Vatican;_ they’re like the churches’ army to fight against the devil.” Of course he didn’t really know for sure but it sounded right.

“Ehhhh, so then you’re, like, on the run now?”

“That’s cool like in the movies.”

“Baka! If they were on the run they wouldn’t be at school!”

“My Padre is really strong and is the boss of a huge company and he’s sorting everything out back in Italy, so they won’t come after us.” Masamune proclaimed proudly. “But we’ll probably have to live here a while.”

He was then bombarded with questions about his dad and his home in Italy. He did feel a little frightened when they made snide comments about his brother, what if that thing came after them? But his aunt did tell him that popularity is important so he should to his best to get others to like him. And it’s not like he can hear them, right?

“He looks like a girl.” One of the boys jeered smashing someone’s sand castle.

“A weak and ugly girl.” A girl rectified as she shoved him off the ruins of her castle. “He looks like one of those gross pirates from my story book with that eye patch.” While the others laughed Masamune remained quiet, suddenly finding the sand very interesting.

“I bet it looks like a real freaky demon eye, so he keeps it hidden to look human!”

“Yeah! And when he takes it off…” A boy suddenly grabbed a girl on the shoulders, “He’s gonna eat your soul!” she squealed and pushed him away while the others laughed.

Shaved head boy stood up suddenly smiling evilly, “Ne, ne I know something fun we can do…” everyone leaned forward listening intently to his evil plan. He smirked triumphantly when they agreed to his ‘fun’ idea. They giggled many saying they couldn’t wait to start.

“Hold up!” Masamune interjected. “That demon is real strong! Believe me, I know for a fact. It could eat us all if do something to Cielo!” Everyone paled at his words. Yes, what about the demon?

“Don’t worry! My uncle’s a priest! We can get some stuff from him that’ll protect us from the demon!” Shaved head declared proudly.

“Really? That’s awesome!” The others looked relieved at his words.

Masamune still wasn’t entirely convinced though…                             

**………**

Meanwhile, with the totally oblivious Cielo…

When lunch time finally came around, I made myself busy with trying to decide if I should attempt this ‘friend making’ thing that Padre had asked me to do. Well, I did promise to make some _proper_ friends, but I didn’t have a clue where to start. Masamune seemed to be doing fine as he was surrounded by a bunch of kids; guess it really helps to know the language…

**“Why don’t you go over there and borrow some of his popularity?”**

_“Nah, it’ll just upset him more if I go over there. Remember, we’re not exactly his favourite people right now.”_

**“Hmm true, we wouldn’t want the little cazzo to whine to auntie and Padre about stealing friends from him or something.”**

_“Ouch, that’s mean Aigís, even for you…”_

**“I believe I’ve already established my distain for that which you call a brother. Now are we going to try and get a friend or not?”**

_“Okay, okay. Hmmm… any more bright ideas?”_

**“What did Padre say? ‘Just be yourself and you‘ll be fine’. Was it?”**

_“Yeah well, so far that hasn’t really worked out. Urgh, why is this so hard?”_

I glance around the playground, transferring in during the middle of the year doesn’t seem to be working in my favour. Everyone has already established their friendship circles, and as an outsider I’d just be an annoyance to them. _“This may be lost cause…”_

“Ara, little one what are you doing sitting there all alone?” an overly friendly female teacher crouches down in front of me. Whoa, seriously, how long has she been there? “There’s no need to be shy everyone’s friends here.” Merda, what does she want? Argh, go away I’m trying to make friends here!

“ _I don’t speak Japanese so leave me alone.”_ I muttered as I slide off the bench, hoping to find a quieter place to plan my friend making endeavour, only to be stopped when I felt her hand rest on my shoulder. She was smiling overly brightly at me. Merda, what do you want woman?

“ _Oh so you are Italian. I learn to speak Italian so we have conversation, yes?”_ Curses, I’ve been foiled. “ _I am Sasagawa Kyoko-sensei, pleased to meet you…”_

_“…Cielo Sawada.”_ Well, at least I could make use of her ability to speak my language and she seems nice enough...

_“Chaero-kun then. Why are you by yourself?”_ I take it back, she is too annoying.

_“I’m not alone, Aigís is with me._ _And it’s Cielo, Ci-e-lo.”_ I snap back at her. But she just giggles and tucks some of her light brown hair behind her ear.

“ _Hehe then, how about you and Aigis-kun come and play with sensei on the swings?”_ She stood up excitedly and clapped her hands together like she just had the best idea in the universe. I looked over at the long line of rowdy kids waiting for a turn by the swing set. Definitely not a good idea.

_“I’m fine here… don’t like the swings that much anyway…”_

 “ _Yep, it’ll be fun!”_ She grabbed my hand and began dragging me to the swings.

_“Didn’t you hear what I just said? I don’t want to!”_ I struggled against her but she just wouldn’t let go. Merda, this woman has an iron grip! “ _Oi, are you listening to me?”_

**“I’ll get her to let go.”**

_“Non! We promised Padre, remember?”_

_“Hmm? What was that?”_ Oh, NOW she can hear me.

“ _None of your business, you put—”_ I was interrupted by a loud squeal of “Kyoko-sensei!” from some girls running up to us. Kyoko-sensei conveniently let go of my hand to look at whatever it was they were showing her, so I used the opening to escape.  I ran as fast as my legs could carry me (only tripping three times) only to find I’d gotten lost. Fantastico…

**………**

Somehow I managed to find my classroom again, an hour later or so. The teacher seemed to be scolding me, but I couldn’t understand him so I just ignored him and went to a seat at the back of the class. He just sighed and went back to the lesson which I also ignored flopping my arms and head on the desk.

“Cross dressing is against the rules, herbivore.” Stated the boy in the seat opposite me. “And your crowding me. Move somewhere else.”

“ _Shut up already, I don’t speak Japanese.”_ I’m too tired to care right now.

“ _I said; get out of my face herbivore.”_ He countered with lightly accented Italian. Curses, foiled again… I looked up into the boy’s irritated steel grey eyes. How pretty… He had tidy black and red hair and his uniform was perfectly neat and looked brand new, like mine should but well…

Huh? Why are we the only ones at this table? Looking around I see that all the other tables were pushed up to the front of the room and everyone sat as far away from this corner as possible. Of course I only sat here because it was the furthest desk at the back, typical that I didn’t notice anything else until now…

_“Move now herbivore.”_ Oh right back to reality…

“ _Why should I?”_ I snap back defiantly, raising myself up to full height. He wasn’t impressed, probably because even on my tippy toes I’d still be shorter than him.

_“You’re crowding me that’s why.”_ He leaned back and crossed his arms.

**“Brat acts like he owns the place.”**

“ _Humph, you’re not my Padre you can’t tell me what to do. If I wanna sit here I’ll sit here.”_ I scoffed mimicking his posture. That seemed to get him, eyes twitching in anger he stood up and slammed his fists on the table.

_“Then I’ll just have to make you move.”_ I vaguely registered that everyone was now running for their lives. But I wasn’t backing down here.

_“Bite me.”_ I boldly declare. Worst mistake of my life.

_“Oh, I will,”_ He slipped out some kind of metal thing from under his sleeves. “ _To death.”_

**“Watch out Cielo!”** I didn’t have time to think when Aigís pushed me to the side and my desk was flung against the wall and smashed to bits. Merda! That could have been me!

**“Don’t let your guard down yet!”** I rolled to the side on pure instinct, as something shredded the space on the floor I had just been lying on. A sword? Not quite. A whip then? No, no it’s a chain? The boy (read ‘demon’) smirked, flicking his wrist the chain flew back to him elegantly like a snake gliding in mid-air.

_“Hn, not many people are capable of dodging this. Interesting.”_ He seems really happy now… Why must you hate me so much Dio?

**………**

When the loud noises from class 2-A seemed to stop the teacher decided it was safe enough to check if the new child was still alive. Cautiously he approached the classroom and paused at the door to listen for any signs of life with in. Suddenly the door flew open causing a small part of the man’s soul to leave his body. There standing before him was the most dangerous child in all of Namimori, Hibari Kai, dragging the older Sawada twin by his collar; to whom was rather dishevelled, marred with scrapes and bruises, and clearly holding back his tears.

“Sensei.” The sound of the devil child’s monotone voice caused him to flinch involuntarily.

“H-Hai! W-w-what is it y-young man?” he stuttered out as the boy glared at him. Looking past him he gaped at the state of the classroom; it looked like a hurricane had just passed through here.

“Teachers shouldn’t leave their students unattended for long periods of time.” He felt like someone stabbed him with a sword labelled ‘bad teacher’ at those words. “Also, Sawada Cielo is to be admitted to the nurses’ office for the rest of the school day, I’ll take him there.”

At the sound of his name said boy began to shout in some foreign language and flail desperately against the other’s hold on him; since his feet didn’t quite reach the ground he looked a bit like a turtle that was stuck on its back. Kind of pathetic really…

The Hibari boy just ignored him and began walking to the nurses’ office leaving the teacher rather stunned at the whole exchange. He could have sworn he saw a bruise forming on the devil child’s right cheek, but that’s impossible… right?

**………**

Padre I’m sorry, I broke our promise. But honestly I didn’t mean it! That insanely strong kid had me pinned with my back against the wall and was about to bite me to death. It was pure reflex when I swung my fist and smacked him clean on the face with enough force that he spit out some blood. It was purely self-defence!

He seemed rather stunned so I took the opportunity to escape, making a mad dash for the door only to trip on my own feet and send myself flying into a stack of broken tables and chairs. All the air was knocked out of my lungs and my vision began to get blurry as tears formed.

**“That was rather a spectacular fall there kiddo.”** Ha-ha very funny, jerk…

Boys don’t cry, so I blinked the tears away while pushing myself up on my hands and knees. I started taking deep breaths to get some air into my lungs, but then I heard a snort of laughter from behind me. Slowly I sat up and turned around to look at the other boy.

His shoulders shook a little, his eyebrow twitched slightly and his lips curved up ever so slightly, small sounds laughter escaping every now and then. When he saw me looking at him his cheeks turned slightly pink and he spun around so his back was facing me. I could still hear his muffled laughter…

“ _What’s with you? Don’t laugh! I’m in serious pain here!”_ I yelled sending him a death glare, or at least what l believed to be a death glare; my one big round eye coupled with long eyelashes wasn’t that threatening and the tears didn’t help. He glanced back at me and snorted again.

“ _Barstardo!”_ I tried to stand up. Key word “tried”. A searing pain in my leg caused me to fall flat on my face, again… _“Ow! It hurts!”_ Looking down I saw a nasty gash on my right leg, probably from when I fell over before. It was throbbing and bleeding quite a lot. Ah, the tears return with full force.

I brought my sleeve up to my face to try and wipe the tears and snot away, and took deep breath in an effort to calm down. I was so absorbed in trying to keep calm that I didn’t notice the other kid until he grabbed me by the collar and slung me over his shoulder. Seriously, he picked me up like I weighed nothing! Argh and why was he so damn tall?

“ _You’re interesting, Sawada Cielo…”_ Merda, how does he know my name? And what the hell is “interesting” supposed to be? “I am Hibari Kai, the one in charge of discipline in this school. Remember it.” I’d rather not…

He then proceeded to drag me, kicking and screaming, to the nurses’ office. Throwing me on one of the beds he said something to the nurse before stalking off back to class. As he left he paused and called over his shoulder. “ _And cross-dressing is against school policy. Wear the correct uniform from now on.”_

It took me a few moments to register what it was he meant. Then I blushed a deep crimson red and screamed after him; “ _I’M NOT A GIRL YOU FOTTUTO BASTARDO!”_

**“Such bad language.”**

_“I don’t want to hear that from you!”_ And so I spent the rest of the day getting patched up.

The nurse was rather bewildered at the whole thing. After all, the Hibari Kai personally brought some one in to be treated. She looked over at the strange kid yelling in Italian(?) to the air beside him…

Oh my! Was this poor kid having hallucinations! Is that why the devil’s child brought him in? So even he feels pity deep down inside that black heart of his! She must tell someone about this! And so she signed into her online blog.


	3. The Beginning of Hell Project

After school finally ended I met up with Masamune at the front gates, my leg neatly bandaged up. Somehow everyone’s bags remains untouched during my fight with Hibari Kai. I ignored the lady at the front gates who said something to us as we passed, though Masamune said something to her which made her smile and wave us off.

Auntie had deemed us old enough, and therefore responsible enough, to be able to walk home by ourselves. Apparently she had and important meeting with her fancy book club today. Or was it her cooking club? Oh whatever, I don’t care. She goes to a different club everyday…

Even though I kept walking into things, and tripping over the air, and avoiding the random dogs that seemed to hate me, Masamune still lagged behind seemingly lost in thought. Which was incredibly weird because one; Masamune never thinks so deeply, and two; he never really thinks at all to be honest. How he manages to still get good grades is beyond me…

As we reach the front gate of our house I stop abruptly causing him to nearly slam straight into me. “ _Hey, fratello, everything okay?”_ he seemed rather put off at my question.

 _“W-what? Of course everything fine. Just thinking that’s all…”_ He shoves past me and heads inside. I stare after him for a bit before shrugging and following him in. Our house is rather large for just three people, but I still had to share a room with my twin for some reason. Probably because said twin can’t sleep alone. Although I don’t think my presence helps much…

It was a two story house with a kitchen, dining room, living room, guest room, play room and bathroom and toilet on the first floor. The second floor had a study, another bathroom and toilet, Auntie’s room, Padre’s room, Padre’s office, our room (the biggest bedroom), two spare rooms and an attic doubled as a storeroom. It had a mix of western and Japanese rooms so we had to take our shoes off in the hallway.

The backyard was huge as well; it was full of all kinds of flowers that auntie paid someone to look after. We had a small trampoline, a big clothes line (which was fun to swing on), a really big tree for climbing and a plastic play house complete with a slide. Though, it was still smaller than our house back in Italy. But then again, we _had_ lived in a mansion.

After I put my bag away I went down to the kitchen and took out the sandwiches auntie left for us from the fridge and placed them on the table. Since I was too busy trying to make friends and running from that teacher I didn’t get to eat most of my lunch so I was starving. After I settled myself down to eat Masamune came down to join me.

“…”                                                                                                        

He keeps twitching and glancing at me. It’s really starting to annoy me now… “ _Um… Fratello?”_ he begins nervously. “ _Why don’t you speak Japanese?”_

I stare at him dubiously for a while, unable to fathom why he was asking such a stupid question. “ _I think the real question should be; why are you able to speak Japanese when we’ve only been in this country for three days?”_

He looked rather taken aback, as if the thought had never occurred to him before. Probably hadn’t. _“T-then why don’t you just learn it?”_

_“I will. But it’s not like I can learn an entire language overnight genius.”_

_“Oh…”_ We sat and ate in awkward silence for a while. “ _Um… Fratello?”_ Argh, what now.

_“Yes?”_

_“You’re umm... you don’t ummm….”_

Again I give him a hard stare, “ _I don’t what?”_ I snap angrily. He’s really getting on my nerves now.

 _“N-non! I-I just… what I mean to say is… you haven’t umm… attacked…with…that…”_ he mumbled the last part.

Oh I get it. I flip out _one_ time and then he’s all ‘Ah, he’s a rabid beast!’ Merda, get over it already. _“Seriously? You’re gonna start that again? For the last time! It was a one-time thing, as in not ever happening again! And besides, you were there when I made my promise to Padre! Honestly now, what’s got you all jumpy?”_

 _“I-I j-just… i-it… it’s nothing…”_ He stuttered out unconvincingly.

 **“He’s definitely hiding something. Lieutenant find out what it is! ”** Aye, aye Captain!

Standing up I walk around the table to where he’s sitting and stare him down causing him to fidget in his seat. But before I could say anything Auntie’s voice sing-songs from the hallway. “ _I’m Home! How were my little darlings’ first day of school?”_

Masamune immediately springs up and runs over to her. Sneaky little prick… I suppose I should greet my Aunt. Although the only good thing that I have to report is that I got to know the nurse quite well today. Masamune avoided me for rest of the day.

**………**

It was quite a beautiful autumn morning; the sky was clear with only a few stray clouds idly floating by, leaves painted the side walk gorgeous tones of brown, red and orange, and a warm breeze gently glided over the streets of Namimori. But none of that mattered to me since I was currently running late for school.

I’d woken up late (having stayed up reading books raided from Padre’s study) and had to wait for both my aunt and brother to finish showering before I could have mine. After twenty minutes I stumbled out of the bathroom, hair mostly dry and fumbling with my clothes. I rush upstairs and shove my books and things into my bag, then tumbled (literally) back downstairs and into the kitchen.

Shoving a piece of jam toast down my throat and chugging a glass of milk to help it down, I grab my lunch, slide it into my bag and rush to get my shoes on. Laces never liked me and these lace-up boots were no exception, so with two awkwardly knotted up boots I run out the door to meet my brother, who is very slowly wandering up to the gate.

Grabbing his hand, ignoring him when he flinched (the usual response), I dashed to school. Or at least tried to; this weird tingly feeling in my gut kept distracting me. I felt really funny, like I was going to be sick but at the same time I wasn’t… It kinda makes my head hurt too…

Of course there were other reasons why my head heads… Mainly due to the fact I kept running into things. First there was the pole ( _“Ow, stupid pole.”)_ , then the bike (“ _Merda! Who put this here?”)_ , then the flower shop display ( _“Mi dispiace.”)_ , man with groceries (“ _Le mie scuse_ ”), woman with dog (“ _N-nice doggy_ …”), the dog… the list goes on and on.

Masamune had managed to escape my grip some time ago and was walking a fair distance behind me. I’m trying, really I am! It’s not my fault; it’s the fault of whoever it was I inherited this damn clumsiness from. It didn’t help that during all that I’d managed to get us lost. Dio, why am I so unlucky?

I had to concentrate really hard on the where I was walking so I wouldn’t trip, with this weird feeling bubbling away in my gut, while trying to read a map. Fantastico…

 _“Fratello...”_ Masamune states boredly as he points to the left. “ _It’s over there.”_

Lo and behold, there standing tall and proud down the street was Namimori Elementary!

 _“… Oh…”_ Why me? Why must I be cursed with no damn coordination, dannato clumsiness, being so damn unlucky and having no damn sense of direction? We’re probably an hour late for school by the time we reach the front gates. Sigh, at least we made it in one piece, relatively in my case. My hair was a mess, my blazer was no better and I was covered in dirt from falling over so much.

“ _Herbivores, you are late. For that you shall be bitten to death.”_ A familiar monotone voice brings me from my musings. Dannato it all…

**……….**

Masamune sat down with the group kids from yesterday. He managed to get away relatively unscathed, while his brother managed trip over himself again. So he is either still being beat up or is at the nurses’ office. Not that he cares; right, it no longer had anything to do with him.

Yesterday he had been so troubled about him, so he asked Mama Katerina for some advice. She was so smart and pretty, surely she’d know what he should do. She was much prettier than his real Mama, not that he remembers all that much about her. Nor does he care, he likes the mama he has now; even more than Padre, who is almost never home.

He’d asked her, that if all his friends told him to do something he wasn’t sure he wants to do, should he do it anyway? She asked him if it would make him more popular. (“ _Si, mama_.”) Then she asked if it was harmful to him in any way. (“ _Non, mama.”_ ) Then she said he has nothing to worry about, so long as it doesn’t hurt him in any way then it’s totally fine.

She told him how other people’s opinions are very important as they can see all the bad things about ourselves that we can’t. She also told him that he should join in with the other kids’ activities and games, even if they seem crude, boring or just plain silly because it will help him gain many friends and a good “social standing”. Whatever that means…

Thanks to her words of encouragement he felt so much better. He didn’t have to worry about a thing because his mama said it was alright, besides that boy had protection charm so they would be fine, right? He turned to his new friends and smiled; they smiled back, yes everything was fine.

That boy passed around little charms and showed them a big container of salt. Apparently, if they sprinkled it on themselves it would purify them and ward off the demon. Wow, he had really thought this through. Now that they were protected he’d better do his best to help out like his Mama had told him to.

“About what you said yesterday, the best time to do it would be when school ends. Just wait at the front gates and I’ll make sure the teachers won’t see a thing.” There were several nods of approval and some of the girls giggled causing the teacher wander over to their group.

“Ara, what’s all the commotion over here?”

“Mi dispiace, Sensei. I was just telling everyone a funny story.” He lied easily, flashing his best puppy dog eyes at him.

“It’s good to see everyone getting along so well.” He smiled and moved on to the next group not noticing the dark aura hovering over the laughing children.

**………**

Today is definitely not my day.  First I get thoroughly lost, then I’m late for school and that Masamune abandons me with that Hibari kid. Then I had to spend the whole morning with that weirdo nurse. She kept glancing at me and squealing then typing something on her computer. But I didn’t want to risk running into that clingy teacher or Hibari, so I had lunch there as well.

When I just couldn’t stand her anymore I picked up my things and headed off to class. Everyone was still out to lunch when I arrived. I put my bag down at the back of the classroom and took out my books and pencil case. The whole room looked like it did yesterday before I was attacked, except everything was newer.

_“They fixed everything quite fast…”_

**“Makes it seems like that kind of thing happens often around here...”**

_“Dio, I hope not.”_ I scan the room for a place to sit. Everyone’s stuff was spread out over the desks so it was fairly easy to tell where people were sitting. I tried to find a desk where there weren’t to many people, but the only place void of people was at the back with Hibari Kai.

**“Maybe we should just sit with the other kids…”**

_“Ehhh… I don’t want that. They’ll be pushy and noisy, and if I sit up there the teacher is sure to call me up to answer questions and stuff…”_

**“Then where else can we sit?”**

_“Even if you ask me I don’t-”_ An idea hits me as I’m looking around at the desks arrangement. _“Captain! I have devised a plan!”_

**“Good work Lieutenant! Then let’s hear it.”**

I tell him my ingenious plan and we get straight to work. After five minutes of shuffling things around I put my things on my new desk and pull up a chair. Sitting down I observe the room from my new desk.

“ _… Molto bene! This will do quite nicely.”_

I had noticed that there was a huge area around Hibari’s desk that was completely empty. Like a kind of no man’s land or whatever you call it. So I pulled one of the unused desks just inside that area; far enough away not to get bitten to death but close enough to be considered to be at the same table. After all I’d be a weirdo if I just sat all alone.

Since there’s still time till lunch ends, I take out a Japanese children’s picture book and an Italian-Japanese dictionary. Reading like this was really helping me learn the language, that and being surrounded by people speaking Japanese. 

When the bell rang and everyone returned to class no one seemed to really notice I’d changed the seating arrangement. Some of them did glance at me and whisper amongst themselves and the teacher paled slightly but said nothing.

The real test was when Hibari Kai came back. Everything went quiet and many were preparing to run; they seemed to believe I’d just get beaten up again. Hibari strode to his seat before pausing in front of my desk. I stared at him and he narrowed his eyes but otherwise said nothing and just sat down at his seat.

**“Operation Appeasement is a success! Nice work Lieutenant!”**

It kind of pisses me off that I have to abide by his rules but this very tiny victory was worth it. I spent the rest of the day reading my book and staring up into space. Yes all is good.

It was a short lived victory as I found out after school…

**………**

I was walking to the front gate assuming that I would be walking home alone today since Masamune had run ahead of me. Probably didn’t want to be dragged all over town again. Although my morning had sucked the afternoon hadn’t been so horrible so I was in a fairly good mood. Humming idly to myself as I walked past the teacherless gate when I was abruptly stopped by a group of kids, some of whom I vaguely recognised were from my class.

“You think you’re so great not speaking to anyone and taking on Hibari like that.” A mostly bald kid sneered at me and shoved me. But the only words I understood were “you”, “speaking” and “Hibari”. Which made no sense to me as I had avoided speaking to him today; I just ignored and pushed past him. Why the diamine is there salt all over his clothes?

Baldy then angrily seized my hair and pulled harshly. “Listen when people are talking to you, ahou!” I hissed in pain when he tugged again, and twisted around to glare at him.

“He’s just too stupid to talk,” it was that eyebrow girl from yesterday. “Or is it that you don’t think we’re worth your time, demon!” She smirked rather evilly at me, but once again I only got like three words from all of that. Not that I could reply even if I wanted to, cause guess what? No Japanese.

**“Brats need to be taught a lesson I’d say…”**

“…” I was getting angry now; they were all just standing in a circle around me, insulting me in a language I don’t understand and laughing. I felt like letting Aigís break all their limbs but then I remembered my promise with Padre and gritted my teeth in frustration. I will _not_ break my promise.

“Poor Masamune-kun, being stuck with a cursed brother like you. He must be so ashamed to be related to you.” Another girl jeered. Now _that_ bit I somewhat understood; Masamune was... _ashamed_ of me? No way… I’d believe it if you said he was scared of me. If you said he was a jealous of me, maybe… but ashamed? He wouldn’t, couldn’t be… I refuse to believe it!

Aigís blasts a nearby garbage bin into the wall, startling everyone. I elbowed baldy in the gut, hard and took off when he let go crying. They shouted after me and started throwing rocks, with deadly accuracy for a bunch of seven year olds. Tears stung my eyes as pebbles hit my back and legs; Aigís protected me from the bigger ones.

I just kept on running until I was completely out of breath. Gasping in air I glanced behind me to make sure I wasn’t being followed. Once I was sure I was safe I looked around to see where I was. Well what do you know; I’m only two blocks away from my house and I haven’t tripped over anything. So miracles do happen after all.

Wiping away my tears I limped home. First I was beat up by a kid with some kind of chain whip, then I get beat up by the god damned _street_ and everything on it, then I get another dose of chain whip and finally I’m pelted with rocks by a bunch Japanese speaking brats. Padre, so far our promise is working against me…

Sighing as I reach the front door, Auntie isn’t home yet and since the door was locked, neither is Masamune. Where is he? I wonder if I should say something to him… Was, was he really ashamed of me? I suddenly feel sick. He may be annoying and a coward and spoilt, but he’s still my twin brother… I don’t want to think about it!

Despite being starving and thirsty I just head upstairs and hide in the attic for the rest of the day. It was peaceful there and the many boxes filled with all manner of things were a good distraction from my everyday hell— I mean life…

**………**

When I look back on this time I can’t help but regret. Regret all the things I didn’t say, all the things I didn’t do, all the things I could have said and done, but didn’t.

Masamune began to avoid me, and I began to avoid him. I had wanted to protect him. I didn’t want him to get involved with my problems. Then I found out he was the one helping the bullies find all my hiding spots, distracting the teachers so they wouldn’t see anything and making so they would catch me alone.

I should have been angry. I should have felt his betrayal stab at my heart like a thorn. I should have confronted him, asked him why. I should have acted like a real older brother and disciplined him. Yet I did nothing. I simply stopped talking to him altogether and avoided him more than ever.

At the time it had made sense to me. Of course he would side with the bullies. It was only natural for him to fear and hate me; I was a freak of nature after all. He was pushing me away, and I let him. Now I’ve lost him forever. And with it I’ve lost the right to be called an “onii-chan”.


	4. The Stuck in the Rain Project

I hate Japanese summers. It’s too damn humid in this country! Why the heck is it raining in summer anyways? I scowl as I trudge home down the wet road, the umbrella over my head failing to keep me dry. My long hair (tied in a low ponytail) is now wet, my boots are caked in mud, my shorts are wet at the knees, my short sleeve button up shirt is wet at the back and my tie refuses to tie up properly.

In the eighteen months I’ve lived in Japan many things have changed. For one, I actually finally managed to learn the language. Also I no longer have to share a room with my brother. And since no one was capable of saying my name correctly I looked up what it meant in Japanese, and then told them to just call me ‘Sora’. I’m a fourth grader now and our classes changed; neither Masamune nor Hibari Kai are in the same class as me anymore.

Masamune himself was probably the biggest change. Those kids kept bullying me from my second day onwards and Masamune had become their ringleader. He took every opportunity to make my life a living hell. I think I liked it better when he was too scared to come within one metre of me.

I never thought I’d say it but, I actually miss sitting near Hibari. Why? Because when I sat in his proximity no one would dare approach my desk for fear of getting bitten to death. Not to mention class was always peaceful and quiet since he detested noise.

It is so weird that I’ve come to enjoy his company. Well, we were very good ‘thinking buddies’ since we both are content to just sit and think in silence. We’ve even had a few almost conversations that go something along the lines of:

“… You’re… wet…”

“…umbrella… lost it…”

“…Hn…”

We mostly talk about the weather, me being late or not wearing my uniform correctly. We’ve even spent a few lunch breaks together. By ‘together’ I mean me hiding on the roof, because no one else goes up there for some reason ( **“There’s a ‘no entry’ sign, Cielo...”** ), and Hibari ( **“Ah… you’re the only one who can see me, and yet you’re ignoring me…”** ) randomly showing up for a nap. ( **“Do you realise how depressing this is?”)**

He’d just glare at me before lying down and falling asleep. This basically translates to: “Don’t disturb my sleep or I’ll bite you to death.” So I’d just sit quietly and read, trying not to make a sound for fear of waking the beast.

Of course every now and then he’d pick a fight but I never last long since I’m already hurt most of the time. He’d stop as soon as I’d curl back in pain from being hit on an already tender spot, and narrow his eyes at me as if he wanted to say something but he never did.

Another person I never thought I’d ever become close to is the weirdo school nurse. She looks at me with this expression that says: “I must help him!” …I think she has the wrong idea about me… Apparently, I’m also the inspiration of a novel she’s writing… I shudder every time she talks about it. Seriously what the heck is she writing in there any way? I’m too scared to find out…

But she does provide me with protection during lunch and recess. And she is the only person I can talk to about another little ‘problem’ that’s been bothering me lately… I’ve been having nightmares, or rather this one nightmare, almost every night. At first it didn’t bother me, I mean it’s just a dream right? But I’m seriously starting to get freaked out now.

I’m standing in the middle of what looks look a desert. There’s sand as far as the eye can see with only a few boulders to break up the scenery. Everything is void of colour; it’s a very dull and lifeless place. But what really gets me is the fact that I’m alone, not even Aigís is there.

No that’s not entirely true… _he_ is there as well… A boy, about my age, dressed all in black with long dark hair. He wears a fox mask, like the one Padre got me at last year’s summer festival, so I can’t see his face. At first he was silent, just standing there staring at me, but then one night he spoke and that’s when I really started to be afraid.

**………**

_ “Who am I?” _ _His voice sounded familiar yet at the same time it didn’t sound like anyone._

_“I don’t know.” Doesn’t he even know his own name?_

_ “You don’t know?” _ _He tilts his head slightly._

_“N-no…” I don’t know so hurry up and disappear!_

_ “Why do you always reject me?” _ _I turn and run from him covering my ears._

_“I don’t know you! Let me wake up already! I want to go home!” I yell up to the grey sky._

_ “Why do want to go there?” _ _His voice sounds next to my ear. “No one’s waiting for you.” _

_“Shut up!” I swing my fist at him but he disappears._

_ “No one understands you.” _ _He reappears on top of a nearby boulder. “No one wants you.”_

_“Liar! Padre is there! Aigís is there! Heck, even Sawako-sensei is there for me!” I throw a rock at him but he’s gone again. This time his voice comes from behind me._

_ “Padre is almost never home. Sawa-chan doesn’t really care for you. Only her image as a doctor. And what good is Aigís when he can’t even protect you from your brother?” _

_“Shut up! Just shut up!” I throw several punches but none even come close to touching him._

_ “Why? I only speak that which you already know.”  _ _He places his colourless hands on my shoulders and whispers into my ear from behind. “Besides, it’s your own fault they treat you so horribly.” _

_I shudder as I feel his breath in my ear. “W-what do you mean ‘my fault’?”_

_ “Because you were weak. Poor naïve little Cielo. You should have just eaten him.” _

_“What the-! Eat? Eaten who?”_

_ “Yes eat. He wasn’t meant to live but you, oh you, were just so soft hearted.” _

_Wasn’t meant to live? It couldn’t be… “Ma-Masamune?”_

_ “That’s right. If you had just eaten him, than none of this would have happened to you.” _

_“Me… eat… Masamune? Are you out of your mind!?” He laughed. A cold and empty laugh._

_ “Hahaha. I should be asking  _ you _that question.”_

_“What’s that supposed to mean?”_

_ “I’ll ask again. Who am I?”  _ _He seizes me by my collar._

_“Well, stop asking! I don’t know!” I push him off and stumble backwards._

_ “Who am I, Cielo?” _

_“I don’t know!” Again I flee. Please Dio, let me wake up!_

_ “WHO AM I?” _

“I DON’T KNOW!” I scream as I fall out of bed. I lay panting and sweaty on the floor, relieved to be back in my own room again.

 **“Hey? You okay there little buddy?”** Aigís hovers worriedly over me.

“Y-yeah… just a dream… it was all just a dream…”

It was after that time that I decided I needed to talk to someone else about it. With Padre in Italy and only my uncaring aunt here I had no choice but to talk with Sawa-chan. She proved to be of little use to me, only offering if I wanted some sleeping pills from her… Thanks, but no thanks, Sawa-chan. I’ve never trusted drugs…

**………**

“Oi! Useless Sora, just where do you think you’re going?” a boyish voice calls behind me.

Oh sterco, its baldy--I mean Honda Daichi and the rest of the bully troop. Curses, I thought I’d given them the slip. Without pausing or looking back I dash down the street not caring how wet I get, nor where I was going.

“Stop right there!”

Yeah right, as if I’d stop. I’d become quite good and running away and hiding. Well, you know, for me anyways… Making a sharp turn i knock over some garbage bins. Taking a second to regain my balance I spot the opening to an abandoned building. Perfect! I duck under the ‘do not enter’ sign and quickly hide inside the semi-destroyed building.

At first I thought I was safe when they didn’t follow me inside, but they just hung around the gate. _“…Why aren’t they coming in?”_

**“They might just be waiting for you to come out on your own…”**

_“As if I’d be dumb enough to do that- Merda! Where did they go?”_ While I was busy lost in thought they seem to have gone off somewhere.

**“Did they lose interest? I mean, it is raining cats and dogs out there.”**

“…” I can hear some shuffling and hushed giggles coming from the other side of the fence... “ _I’ve changed my mind! Make them come back!”_

**“What the- why the heck would you want them to come back?”**

_“But, but it’s creepy when I don’t know where they are!”_  BANG! _“Hieeeee!”_ An incredibly _manly_ shriek escapes from my lips (did that sound really come out of _my_ mouth?) and I duck down, hands over my head. _“W-what was that?”_

**“Aah! They’re blocking us in!”**

My head shot up to see them piling up rocks and old fence sheets against the entrance. Those maiali! But Aigís could easily bust us out of here. Then again there’s no telling if those guys are actually leaving or are just waiting out of sight. Since it’s still pelting down with rain they probably won’t stick around very long.

 I slump to the floor, my back leaning against the wall, and hug my knees. I’d lost my umbrella somewhere so I’m stuck here until the rain lets up anyway. With a sigh I pull out my homework and attempt to finish it. Despite being in this country for so long I still have issues with the language. It’s just too damn hard to memorise all that kanji!

“Aachoo!” I sneeze so loudly it echoes around the whole building.

**“Vi benedica.”**

_“Grazie.”_ I press the back of my hand to my forehead; it feels hot. Looks like I’m getting a fever now… great. Seriously, who gets a cold during summer? I bet Katerina (I hate her too much to call her auntie) won’t even notice; she’s far too busy either working or going out to one of her many clubs.

Even if she’s home she wouldn’t notice me anyways. I’ve always just been excess baggage to her any way; she has only ever cared about her beloved “Ma-kun”. He was popular, good at sports, talented in art and his marks were always in the top twenty. He’s already won three art competitions and is the ace of the school basketball team and soccer team.

Not like me who couldn’t catch a ball to save my life, not to mention throw one. No one wants me in their team anyway, so why do I have to participate in sport at all? I don’t mind being unpopular, having just one or two kids I could talk to in class would be good enough for me.

If only everyone didn’t avoid me like the plaque… Especially in art; but that’s totally understandable since I tend to get paint everywhere, except on the page. My non-existent art skills don’t exactly help me that much in that area. Seriously that teacher knows I have zero talent in art so why the diamine is she making me do it anyway?

My marks are always in the bottom fifty. I mean, I practically missed a whole year of school because I couldn’t understand the language (not to mention most my classes ended up being with Sawa-chan), what did they expect? So what if I can’t remember the names of a bunch of dead warlords, or what year the Heian period started, I’m Italian not Japanese! Who cares if my Japanese writing sucks, when I can write the same answers in Italian or even English much more flawlessly?

I don’t have a problem with maths (aside for the questions written in kanji); in fact I found it relatively simple. The teacher is the one who keeps confusing me with his abstract explanations and weird formulas. I don’t get how everyone else is able to follow his lesson. I would have been right using the first method I had come up with, rather than using his screwed up formula. But if I just right my own formulas and answers down, he always marks wrong even they’re right. I swear the bastardo is so doing it on purpose…

My answers aren’t actually wrong they just aren’t the ones they want me to write. This schooling method really sucks… hopefully things will change when I get to middle school. But as long as I pass then I don’t care. And most the time I don’t have to show Padre, thankfully…

Also, I really hate how everyone’s marks are displayed on the notice boards for the whole world to see. It’s embarrassing enough to show my family let alone the entire school. Masamune and his gang take full advantage of this dumb system. Always rubbing it in my face when they see what mark I got.

“Ha-ha, look dame Sora got a twenty on the history test!”

“Wow, I didn’t know it was possible to fail such an easy spelling test.”

“No good Sora’s only got a twelve!”

“Baka Sora got the lowest score again!”

They’d go on and on, making sure everyone in the school new about it. Then Masamune would run home and brag about how he got a ninety on the test that I only got a thirty on, to Katerina. She would always say how proud she was of him and then she’d look at me with an indifferent smile and just tell me to try harder next time. Hypocrite…

To her it was all about Masamune, her talented and perfect nephew. She always said he took after our mother. Not like me who took after our ‘dame father’ as she put it. Which I find stupid since he is clearly not dame like me. He’s the boss of an entire freaking international company! He pays for all our living expenses too. Something she seems to forget when she’s out shopping for new clothes or furniture.

Everyone in this country is just a damn hypocrite! ‘He doesn’t get good marks like his brother so he must be an idiot.’ They’d say. ‘He can’t play sport like his brother so he must be so useless.’ So what! ‘He’s talking to himself again so he must be mentally insane!’ Just because you can’t see what I see!

Frustrated tears stung my eyes and my fists were clenched so hard my fingernails bit into my palms. I felt my left eye burning hotter and hotter, as I tried to contain the anger, pain and irritation I’d been holding in for the past year or so.

Why does this stuff always happen to me? Why can’t I be good at sport or school? Why do they have to bully me? Why can’t everyone just leave me alone? Why do I have to be so different from everyone else? Why must they treat me like I’m a freak?

I can see it in the way people look at me. That fear and mistrust in their eyes, as if they didn’t think I was human. Though I’d long since become used to such things, somehow it brought up forgotten memories to the surface. I clutch my head as images flash before my eyes.

A sandy blonde haired woman holds a hand out to me, her blue-green eyes filled with fear and a shaky smile on her face. Her whole body shakes violently as I run up to her, causing me to pause. I remember… calling out to her; “ ** _\-----?_** _”_

_“C-come here… s-sweetie… it’s time to go inside.”_ **Shut up.**

_“You should j-just stay inside, where it’s safe.”_ **Safe for _who?_**

_“Non, it’s because… I-I love you. I j-just don’t want to share you w-with anyone.”_ **Please, stop lying…**

_“I love you.”_ **Don’t lie!**

_“I love you so much…”_ **YOU LIAR!**

“ _LIAR!”_ I scream and Aigís blows up a pile of discarded boxes. “ _Liar!”_ BANG! “ _Liar!”_ CRASH! We smash the windows too. “ _You damn liar!”_ BOOM! We rip the door from its hinges. _“DON’T LIE TO ME!”_

Suddenly, my left eye burned behind the eye patch and a bright orange flame erupted all around me. It burned throughout the whole room and I just stood in the middle of it in shock.

 _“Hieeeeeee!”_ I shriek. (Ugh, not again.)

**“Whoa, whoa, whoa! What did you-- how did you…?”**

It was so beautiful. I reached out to it slowly, letting it coat my hands. Somehow I knew it wouldn’t hurt me. It was so warm and kind of… familiar, like something from a distant memory or a forgotten dream. Yes, I’ve seen this flame before… back then I had also… with this flame…

When a wave of calm washed over me and my whole body relaxed, the flame abruptly went out. Exhaustion swept over me and I became dizzy. I slumped to the cold stone floor, too tired to move. My vision blurred and my eyelids became heavy.

**“Hey, hey! Cielo! You can’t sleep here, you’ll get sick! Hey!”**

I try to get up but it’s no good, I’m just so tired. The sound of Aigís’ voice and the rain lulls me into a deep, comfortable sleep; warmth flowing through my body, the reason for my sudden outburst completely forgotten. Despite being on the cold, hard floor it was probably the best sleep I’d had in ages.

**………**

After spending the night the night in that abandoned building I caught a cold. Luckily it was Sunday so I drank some medicine and just slept all day. No one even noticed when I came through the front door that morning, rummaged around the kitchen for medicine or when I stumble up to my room in the attic. Go figure…

Katerina had wanted to move us into the two spare rooms so that she could use the big room to store all her stuff from those fancy clubs she goes to, and still use it as a guest room. But Masamune didn’t want to move and made a big fuss. So to avoid being moved into the cramped study I said I’d just have the attic.

I practically lived up there anyway, all I needed was to bring my bed and stuff up. I’d moved all the boxes and things forward around the entrance. Katerina had dumped a lot of good furniture up there because they had small scratches or stains on them and she wanted new ones. I once heard Padre call her a ‘gold-digger’ for it… whatever that means…

There was a beautiful indigo rug (it reminds me of my ‘other’ Madre) and I’d found some nice violet curtains to put on the window. They went quite well with my sky patterned covers on my bed and, surprisingly, the faded orange walls too. To get in you had to climb up the stairs and lift up a trap door which, thankfully, had a lock. So Masamune almost never came up here.

I’d woken up Monday morning feeling slightly less horrible. The fever must have interfered with my nightmare since I slept peacefully the whole time. Rolling over to look at the time I saw that it was already 10:30 in the morning. Argh, school! I’m so late! I’m gonna be in so much trouble… oh… screw it.

 My stomach rumbles loudly. But the thought of food makes me feel sick. Not eating wouldn’t do me any good, so I drag myself out of bed and down stairs to the kitchen. Katerina is nowhere in to be seen, probably already at work. Finding some leftover soup in the fridge I shove it in the microwave.

The one thing I can count on with Katerina is I’ll always be fed. If she didn’t look after both our basic needs she would be in so much trouble with Padre. That’s probably why she always makes a big breakfast and dinner. So even if my lunch gets taken or my money stolen at least I’ll have two full meals every day.

I settle down and eat slowly, thinking over that strange flame from the other day. Just what was that? Why didn’t it burn me? I lift my hand to cover my left eye. It had felt hot right before the flame appeared… was there some connection?

Trying to light that flame again here would be stupid… I know! I’ll go to that abandoned building again once I get better! My mind made up, I place my empty bowl in the sink and wobble back up to my room.

**“What about school?”**

“I’m sick…” I croak. Whoa, I sound like an old man…

**“And when you get better?”**

“…”

It was after this that I started skipping school in favour of practicing with my fire at the abandoned lot or just lazing around in my room. Sure I got ‘bitten’ by Hibari a couple of times, but, I’d rather deal with him than the teachers or worse, the students…


	5. The Homework Project

The rainy season was ( _infine_ ) ending and the summer holidays were coming up. This year was sure to be much more relaxing than the last. For once the school has an activity that I would call worthwhile; training camp! And since Masamune is in both soccer and basketball he will be training hard at both camps. Yes, for two whole weeks I will be sibling free!

Okay, I feel a little bad for thinking about him that way but he’s become such a cazzo over the past year! Most of his annoying friends will be with him at camp so I’m really looking forward to my two week break from bullying. Maybe I should use this time to actually do my homework properly this year since I’ve been skipping classes… ugh, curse you homework!

But I really want something _good_ to show Padre for once. History would be too much of a long shot, no point in even trying with the essay, maths; maybe I could pull something off, but with that bastardo teacher… not likely. Ah, there is that research project thingy. Let’s see; choose a research topic and make a poster about it. Well, that’s vague, just what the diamine am I supposed to write about?

With less than a week left and the teachers totally useless to me I was running out of options. So I asked Sawa-chan (Dio forbid) for some advice… She told me that I should meet up with my friends and just do it together… Seriously, if I had friends why would I be here talking to you, idiota! All these teachers are so damn useless!

Sigh, friends huh? All I’ve got is Aigís, Sawa-chan and maybe Hibari…Wait a minute! That’s it!

“Hibari?” I probed carefully. The weather was hot and humid but there was a nice cool breeze up here on the roof. I continued when he cracked an eye open lazily (it didn’t look like I’d get bitten to death), “You get good marks, don’t you?”

“Hn…” he grunted and gave me a look that said: ‘obviously.’ Spavaldo prick.

 **“Don’t forget our goal! You can do it!”** Right! I need his help to get my homework done.

“Sooo… I was wondering if you could, you know, help me with my summer homework.”

“…” He stared at me before getting up and towering over me. “Small animal,” For some reason he started calling me that instead of ‘herbivore’ like he does everyone else. “I do not help anyone. That’s for herbivores.”

“O-oh… I see…” I should’ve known he’d say that… what’s left of my pride is crushed into tiny little pieces.

**“Why that arrogant little prick!”**

He stopped briefly at the doorway, glancing back at me. “Namimori Aquarium, Tuesday morning at eight. Bring your own money, and don’t be late or I’ll bite you to death.” He ordered before gliding down the stairs and out of sight.

Wait, what? Why does he want me to go to the aquarium? Does this mean he’s going to help me pick a research topic or something? But a day out at the aquarium with a friend… wow it feels like I’m dreaming here. I pinch myself… nope still awake.

This thought makes excitement bubble up inside my belly. I wish Tuesday would come faster! I just had one little problem. “Where’s the aquarium?”

**“Hmmm, where indeed… Lieutenant! We must perform reconnaissance! The objective: the location of Namimori Aquarium!”**

“Aye sir!” I shout with a mock salute.

 It took me three painfully long days to finally find the damn aquarium, but at least I wouldn’t get lost come Tuesday morning… Probably…

**………**

It was bright sunny morning when I ran out the down the street to the aquarium, practically skipping with joy. Masamune and a few of his friends had left for the basketball team’s camp yesterday so I was in high spirits. Not to mention I’d slept well last night; not a single nightmare.

I set two alarms so I got up nice and early. Katerina was already cooking, so I had a nice breakfast of eggs and bacon. Then I got dressed into my favourite clothes; a short sleeved light blue and white hoodie, khaki shorts and my Nike sneakers.

To prevent my allowance from getting stolen I’d taken to hiding most of it in a locker box, found in the attic, under my bed. It had a combination lock so Masamune couldn’t get in even if he did manage to find it. I brought enough money with me to get into the aquarium and some extra cash for lunch.

Slowing to a walk as the aquarium came into view I felt excitement bubble in my stomach. I’d never actually been to an aquarium before so I didn’t know what we were supposed to do there. I figure I’d just follow Hibari around and then we’d get some lunch or something. I checked my watch, 7:42; I’ll get there in plenty of time. Then I heard _his_ voice behind me.

“Why are you so happy, baka Sora.” Oh sterco, why today, why now? Why, oh, why isn’t Honda Daichi in the basketball club like Masamune? I don’t have the will nor the time to deal with him or his troops right now. Not bothering to acknowledge him I dash down the street.

I run as fast as I can, but soccer makes him a fast runner, not to mention there was like twenty of them and they were taller than me. Why must I be so damn short! It would only be a matter of time when they catch me, but if I could just make it to the aquarium then maybe...

Yes! There it is! Just a little bit farther. Hope flared as I run out of the streets and into the aquarium’s car park. The victory was short lived when I was grabbed by my long ponytail. Merda, I should have just cut it off…

“How dare you run from me!” Baldy (though he now has full head of dark brown hair) growls as he punches me in the gut. “Don’t get cocky just because Masamune-sama isn’t around!”

“Looks like dame Sora needs to be taught a lesson.” Eyebrow girl sneers evilly.

They toss me to the ground and form a circle as they start beating the living daylights out of me. I curl up into a ball to reduce the damage. Hurry up and finish already! I have plans today! Suddenly, a boy cries out as he’s flung into the wall by an oh-so-familiar metal whip.

“Stop crowding herbivores, disappear or I’ll bite you to death.” Everyone freezes at the sound of Hibari’s monotone voice. Dio, I never thought I’d be happy to hear that phrase.

 **“Boy am I glad to see him. Wow that felt weird.”** You can say that again. Seriously I’m being saved by the guy that tried to kill me on my first day of school! The whole becoming friends with him thing hasn’t really sunk in yet.

“Yo, Hibari-san,” Baldy started arrogantly, taking a step towards him. Bam! Hibari’s whip smacks him clean in the face. He’ll be getting a black eye from that, and his nose is bleeding. He should totally keep that look; it was definitely an improvement.

“Crowding is not allowed.” His eyes flashed dangerously as he raised his weapon to strike at the already fleeing kids.

Before he could bite anyone else to death I lunged forward and catch the whip, gasping for breath and clutching my stomach. Having already faced him a couple of times I knew how to block it without getting my hand sliced open by its sharp edges, while keeping a firm enough grip so he can’t attack again. “Don’t, _per favore_.”

He stared at me shock and confusion evident on his face, before he composed himself and glared at the backs of the escaping bullies. Since they don’t stand a chance against Hibari they’ll definitely take their revenge out on me… Fantastico…  

With a sigh I drop Hibari’s whip, which he then stores away Dio-knows-where, and brush the dirt off my clothes. Even when he’s not wearing his uniform he still looks neat and tidy. He’s got on a simple black hooded jacket, a plain white shirt, denim shorts and purple and black sneakers. How the heck can someone look so formal in such informal clothing?

“Why?” His sudden question brings me from my musings.

“Why what?” I counter lightly; I can totally see where this is going.

“…” he narrowed his eyes at me irritably. “Why don’t you defend yourself?”

Called it. “Because I made a promise.” I wince at the pain in my gut and I stumble slightly.

“Humph, not fighting back just makes you weak, small animal.” He stated flatly as he spun around and stalked briskly towards the aquarium. I trailed after him limping lightly.

“Non… it makes me better than them.” I murmur to his back causing him to pause, his shoulders stiffening. I couldn’t see his expression so I don’t really know what he was thinking. He shook his head lightly before continuing on at a slower pace.

We walk in comfortable silence to entrance and payed to get in. The lady eyed us strangely, probably because you don’t see kids at these kinds of places without their parents accompanying them. But when Hibari glared at her she paled, apparently recognising him, and let us go through without any questions.

It was nice and cool inside and the walls and floor were all different shades of blues and greens giving it a calm atmosphere. There weren’t many people here today, probably why he picked this place since he hates crowds so much. When we got to the first room my jaw dropped in awe.

This place was amazing! The walls were made of glass with all manner of sea life on the other side. A school of brilliantly coloured fish swam past us, brightening the dimly lit room. I ran up to the glass and just gaped at it all.

“Hibari look! It’s a Dory!” I point at a blue fish, jumping up and down excitedly. “Oh, oh! And over there’s a bunch of Nemos!”

“A Blue Tang or Blue Surgeonfish. Paracanthurus Hepatus.” He said with a nod to the Dory. Then he tilted his head to the Nemos. “Anemone Clownfish. Amphiprion Oscellaris.”

“…!” He left me speechless at his unexpected, extensive knowledge of fish species.

“…What?” He demands, a little unnerved by my analysing gaze.

“Could it be that…” I search his facial expression carefully. “You like ‘Finding Nemo’ too?”

**“Okay, even _I_ didn’t expect you to say that.”**

He whacks me hard on the head and twirls around so I can’t see his face. As I nurse my sore head I can see his ears are red and he’s gripping the handrail along the glass pretty tightly. Hmmm, so he gets flustered surprisingly easily… the beast is human after all.

With a huge grin I grab his arm and drag him to the next room. “Come on let’s go! Ooooo, what kind of fish is that?” He was still blushing and struggled lightly as I dragged him deeper inside. Who knew he had such a cute side?

**………**

After a while he calmed down and went back to his usual blank expression. He knew the names of most the fish and a bunch of other facts about them. It was probably the most I’ve ever heard him talk, even if they were only three or four word sentences. Come to think of it this is probably the most I’ve ever talked with someone too.

We took our time looking in each room. My favourite has to be the glass tunnel we went through with all the fish swimming around above us. Hibari took his revenge on me with the touch pool. Let’s just say starfish thoroughly freak me out now.

That’s another thing I learned about Hibari today; he’s unexpectedly cheeky when he wants to be… and a cazzo too, seriously, I’ll never look at a starfish the same way again. I shudder again just thinking about it…

“Keep up, small animal.” The culprit of my trauma calls from the doorway. That smug look on his face pisses me off. I grit my teeth and chase after him out to the outdoors area.

There’s some people gathered in the stands and a huge poster advertising a dolphin show at one thirty today. I can already see them setting up for it. But, from the way Hibari scrunches up his nose in disgust at the few people already here, we probably won’t be staying for the show. Maybe I’ll get Padre to take me to see it when he comes home next.

We make our way past the dolphin and whale tanks. Only stopping briefly to watch a killer whale get fed. As if on cue my stomach rumbles loudly; it’s nearly lunchtime after all. Hibari glances at me and I rub the back of my head and clutch my belly, only to flinch slightly in pain. Dang it still hurts.

“Hn.” With a grunt Hibari charges off somewhere leaving me to chase after him again. He didn’t slow down until we were back inside with the wonderful air conditioner. I finally catch up to him at the foot of a spiral staircase. Downstairs was the exit and a gift shop, and upstairs there’s a nice little café. Guess that’s where we’ll be having lunch.

Hibari makes a beeline for an empty booth in a roped off area marked ‘V.I.P only’. I’ve always wondered what V.I.P stood for, since whenever we went out with Padre we always went to areas marked ‘V.I.P only’. Oh well, so long as I can sit down and eat I don’t care.

A waiter came over, looking really ticked off. “Hey! You kids can’t- geh!” As soon as he caught sight of Hibari glaring at him, he choked on his own words and paled slightly before handing us a menu and running away. Japanese adults are really pathetic, being frightened off by a nine year old kid, even if he is insanely strong.

Wait, didn’t something like this happen before today? What do you call it…? Deja vu? As I ponder this over, the codardo returns to take our orders. He stands stiffly with a plastic smile on his face. I wonder what he’d do if I ordered in Italian?

But when I looked at the menu it was all Japanese food. Katerina rarely makes Japanese food and I’ve never really been fond of fish... not to mention I have yet to master the art of chopsticks… Feeling Hibari’s impatient, scrutinizing gaze I desperately search the menu for something I can eat that’s within my budget.

**“How about chicken katsu with miso? Looks simple enough to eat and it’s cheap.”**

Yes that’ll do. With a nod I place my order for chicken katsu with miso soup. But then he asks if we want drinks too. Hibari ordered something and feeling the pressure on me again I just say; “I-I’ll just have the same as him.”

 **“Smooth. Do you even know what he ordered?”** Nope… I hope it’s something cold… Ah! I forgot to ask for cutlery instead of chopsticks! Cries. I scan the area, maybe they have one of those tables with napkins, straws and cutlery set up somewhere.

 **“Over there, by the balcony.”** Phew! If it turns out I need to, I can always grab my own. But when our food arrives, Hibari holds his chopsticks so damn perfectly I felt too embarrassed to go get a knife and fork. So I attempt to eat with chopsticks. I will prevail this time, chopsticks! Make no mistake about it!

 **“You can do it!”** Yeah! Let’s do this!

**………**

I couldn’t do it.

After ten minutes of fiddling with these two damn wooden sticks and dropping them like fifty times, Hibari ‘encouraged’ me (“I’ll bite you to death if you don’t stop playing with those chopsticks.”) into getting some cutlery. Sigh… the bitter taste of defeat…

At least the drink was nice. It was an iced green tea, with a heap of ice and a scoop of vanilla ice-cream on top. I’ve never really liked bitter drinks like green tea, but the sweetness of the ice-cream balanced out the bitterness of the tea. And it was lovely and cold; I’m glad I got it.

Hibari smirked knowingly as I lap up the last of my deliciously cold beverage, causing me to blush lightly. Okay so he has taste, I’ll give him that. “You know, I still haven’t forgiven you for that starfish stunt!” I glare at him.

“Hn.” He just brushes me off and heads back downstairs. Why that cheeky little…

“Don’t ‘hn’ me! It was so uncalled for!” I dash after him scowling. “I’ll never forget it for my whole damn life now!”

“Well, now you have the perfect research topic.” I stop dead at this, suddenly realising the reason we came here was to pick a topic for our posters. He’s right, I do actually know quite a bit about starfish now… “You’re welcome.” He states with a smug, almost not there smile.

**“Wow, he actually did help us with our research topic…”**

 “…You’re still a cazzo though…” I mutter as we exit the building through the gift shop. He only grunted, his expression unchanged from before.

**………**

I seem to have learned quite a bit about my thinking buddy today. He’s actually quite a shy person, like my ‘other’ Madre. I’ll bet he’s hidden behind that blank expression so long he probably finds it hard to express himself. I must have really caught him off guard for him to act so freely with me.  But, on the first day we met he did burst out laughing… the cazzo…

 **“Well you do have an effect on people that lets them-”** Was it really _that_ funny to make even someone like Hibari laugh? **“You’re ignoring me AGAIN?”** Man, that’s a deep blow to my already shattered pride… **“How do think _I_ feel…”**

I was so wrapped up in my thoughts that I walked straight into a woman carrying two full bags of toys. “Hahi!” she cried as we both toppled over. Hibari just stood off to the side and watched… hang on…

“Oi! Don’t you dare laugh!” he twisted around snickering into his hands.

“Hahi! Are you alright little boy?” Aren’t you the one who got knocked over…?

With a shake of my head I pick myself up from the floor and dust myself off. “I‘m fine.”

“That’s good! It would be bad if you’d gotten hurt!” she grinned. I just stare blankly at these words. I get hurt all the time, besides falling over is the norm for me anyway. The contents of her bags have been spilt all over the floor. I bend down and help her gather up a bunch of stuffed fish. Even Hibari helped pick them up.

“Thank you!” she said as we stuffed the last of the toys back in the bags. “Such gentlemen! Hahi! We haven’t introduced ourselves yet, have we? I’m Miura Haru desu!”

“…Hibari Kai…”

“…Sawada Cielo.” We mutter our names and make to leave but she stops us.

“Sawada? Do you happen to be related to a Sawada Tsunayoshi?” She bends down to my level examining me too closely for my tastes. I back away slightly.

“He’s my Padre…”

“Hahi! I thought so! He and I were good friends back in middle school! You look just like him with your hair, and your eyes are the exact same shape as his!” Merda, how can she recognise the exact _shape_ of someone’s eyes! Everything about her screamed ‘stalker’…

“Hahi! That’s right! I should thank you for helping me.” She rummages through her bag.

“It’s fine!” I hold up my hands in protest. “I was the one who knocked you over anyway…”

“Nonsense!” She shoves a pale orange and white stuffed toy dolphin into my arms and a pale purple and white one into Hibari’s. “I have plenty so there’s no need to hold back.”

I was about to refuse again but then I saw the sparkly look in Hibari’s eyes as he squeezed the dolphin in his hands. Dio he really likes it! Damn, I can’t refuse now…

“ **Who would have guessed he liked stuffed animals…”**

“Ummm, grazie Miura-san…”

“Haru is fine!” she takes a look at her wristwatch. “Hahi! I have to go now! Bye, bye Cielo-kun, Kai-kun. See you again desu!” And with that she’s gone…

I glance at Hibari, who is staring, really happily, at his dolphin toy. He catches my eye and blushes. Then with a cough he charges off in the general direction of home. The tingly feeling in my gut tells me that there would be pain if I said anything about the toy.

Ever since that incident on my second day of school I’ve come to trust this feeling completely. So much so that it’s gotten to the point where my body moves on its own before I even realise what’s happening. That’s why the only sport I’m capable of doing well is dodge ball. I haven’t been hit once, but since I can’t catch or throw the teacher just swaps me out otherwise the game would last forever.

I look down at my own dolphin. Well, it was free and I guess it could serve as a reminder of how great today was. When I look up I realise we’ve stopped moving. Whoa, we’re in front of my house! That was quick. Hibari is just standing there staring at me… Why is he staring?

“…Ummm… is there something on my face?” I ask stupidly.

“…” Stare…

Okay… he just keeps staring at my eye—EYE PATCH! I clap my hand over my left eye. When did I lose it!? Oh, Dio… I’m sure I had it on this morning… and those guys weren’t all freaked out so I had it on when we were at the aquarium… Aha! That Haru chick said _eyes,_ as in plural! It must have fallen off then! Curse my lack of attention!

“Umm…” Should I run for it, I mean my house is right there…

 **“I doubt running away would solve anything.”** …Curses…

“…It’s orange…” So he speaks at last. My left eye is a bright sunset orange that has an eerie glow to it. That seems to be what freaks people out the most. Padre once told me we had an ancestor with orange coloured eyes and it’s likely I inherited it from him.

“Ah! Well… yeah…ummm…” I’m not sure how to respond to this…

“…Pretty…” He mutters. What? Pretty?

“…Don’t you mean ‘weird’…? Besides your eyes are much more prettier than mine.” The look of pure shock on his face is something I doubt I’ll ever see again.

“…”

“…”

“…”

Enter the awkward silence.

 **“Argh! I can’t take it anymore! Lieutenant! Change the topic! Quickly!”** Aye sir!

“Soooo… ummm… homework…” Smooth Cielo… real smooth…

“Hn...” He grunts composing himself and giving me the ‘you saw nothing’ look. To which I nod slightly at. “Tomorrow at noon… I’ll be here… So make a start on your poster tonight.”

“O-oh! Right!” So we’re doing it together? Lucky!

With a grunt he stalks away in the direction we came. Did he just walk me all the way to my house? Wow, that was nice of him. Wait… how does he know where I live...? Non! Shake that thought away… its Hibari, he just knows things… yeah, let’s go with that…

With that thought in mind I head inside and skip happily up to my room to make a start on that poster. I hope tomorrow will be just as great as today was!


	6. The Family Project

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is one of my favourite chapters. I just had so much fun writing this~

I’m so freaking nervous! Today I’m visiting Kai’s house for the first time! It’s the last week of summer break, and here I am at the school gates waiting for him to come and pick me up. Should I be happy that he’ll be leading me there, or upset that he thinks I’ll get lost? I don’t know…

We’d become pretty good friends over the past five weeks, though I know he’d never admit it out loud, I’m sure he feels the same. Somewhere along the way I started calling him ‘Kai’ and he hasn’t bitten me to death for it. That’s proof enough for me.

Lately, I’ve been so distracted that I haven’t practiced that much with my flame. But on a more positive note, I don’t have nightmares as often, so all is bene. Not to mention we’d finished our homework in the first week and it’s packed in my bag, ready for when school starts again. Since Kai was there to ‘tutor’ me, I’m sure to have scraped a pass on everything.

But whenever he looked over my answers he’d say; “I can’t tell if you’re an idiot or a genius…” And I have can’t tell if he’s making fun of me or not. I got hit a lot for ‘writing stupid things’ or spacing out or stuff like that. But my sore head will be worth it when I show Padre my scores.

We spent the rest our time just lazing about in my room with a fan blowing cool air on us. The high ceiling and insulated wooden floors make my room nice and cool in summer and cosy warm in winter. Kai said my room had ‘good acoustics’, which means it’s a good place to play music or something like that.

Speaking of music, Kai brought over a whole bunch of cd’s the day after we found an old cd player. He mostly had foreign music but they’re really cool! I’ve become addicted to music; rock, pop, jazz, the blues, hip hop, be it in English, Japanese or Italian. I love it all!

We’d just sit and listen to music for hours. I’d filled up a cooler box with ice, water, juice and some gelato Padre had sent over from Italy, so we didn’t have to go downstairs for snacks. The look on Kai’s face when he first tried the gelato was priceless. Well, it _is_ the best ice-cream in the world, the reaction is expected.

I think the gelato was part of the reason he came over almost every day even after ‘the obnoxious herbivore’ had come back from camp. Except for last week when he had gone overseas to be with his father for the entire week. Now that I think about it, that’s probably why he knows Italian, and German, and English, and Russian, and Spanish…

Seriously, I struggle with just learning Japanese, how can he know so many damn languages! Oh well, it was a bit lonely without him around but I’m used to it. Life pretty much went back to normal in that week. But, it was a nice knowing I still had a friend out there.

I was rather surprised when yesterday Kai called and asked (read ‘threatened’) me over to his house today with a whole tub of gelato. I’m sensing an ulterior motive here, but the excitement of visiting a friend’s house won me over.

Today I’m wearing a sleeveless white hoodie with red trims, brown three quarter cargo pants and my trainers. Its scorching hot today but all the clouds and my instincts tell me it will rain later, so I brought my fold up umbrella.

**“Why does he want us to bring so much gelato?”**

“Who knows…?” I eye the blue cooler bag at my feet. It _is_ good manners to bring a gift when visiting someone’s house in this country, right? Kai had brought some snacks and even a watermelon when he had come over…

**“Maybe he just wanted to make sure you wouldn’t forget to bring a gift.”**

“Gee, thanks for having confidence in me…” I mutter dryly.

“What are you doing?” If I hadn’t known he was coming I probably would have jumped right out of my skin.

“Ciaossu Kai. How was your trip?” I smile lightly at him.

“Hn.” Translation: It was fun. He’s slightly tan, his hair has been cut just I little shorter and he looks just a bit more, what’s the word, musclier? I wonder what it is they do together… I can tell from how excited he was before he left, that he really enjoys being with his father.

As usual he manages to look formal and tidy in his casual clothes; a black t-shirt with a purple stripe, grey shorts and dark brown sneakers. Seriously how does he do it? There isn’t a single bloody wrinkle or crease in his clothes and not a speck of dust to be seen!

We headed down the street towards the rich suburb. Kai’s family must be loaded… Well, technically we are too but Padre said he wanted us to experience a normal life. Well, as normal as you can get in this family… The most normal person in my family has to be Masamune. It practically makes him a black sheep since everybody else was so weird…

As usual, I’d become so lost in thought, that I didn’t realise we’d arrived until I suddenly stopped walking. I’d nearly slammed straight into Kai’s back. Close call… While he’s unlocking the door I take the time to look around.

“…!”

This place is practically a village all by itself! There’s a few traditional Japanese house spread around with traditional Japanese style gardens. The whole place is sealed off from the rest of the world by a high wall. Just how many people live here? It looks pretty much deserted though…

**“It feels like we’re miles away from civilisation, like up in the mountains or something like that...”**

“We’ve travelled through time…”

“What are you talking about…?” Kai calls from the doorway of the biggest house. “Hurry up, small animal.”

“Ah! Wait, Kai! Don’t leave me in uncharted territory!” I race after him as he vanishes inside.

**………**

I’ve been abandoned! Kai left me in the living room when someone called him from down the hall! What should do? The atmosphere feels so formal and it’s so quiet I’m too scared to make a sound! The only sound to be heard is this ‘clunk’ noise coming from the garden. It’s probably one of those bamboo things that fills up with water, then tips over and hits a rock with a ‘clunk!’

I really feel like I’m a foreigner now. Tatami floors, sliding doors, a Buddhist alter and a Japanese garden with a koi pond and sakura… this has the first time I’ve been to real Japanese house. I’m sitting at one of those short legged tables on those floor cushions. My legs are already falling asleep…

“…Kai… hurry up and come back…” I mumble miserably. Seriously I can’t take this anymore!

“Ara! You must be Kai’s friend!” A female voice scares the absolute crap out of me.

“Hieeeee!” Argh, why the diamine do I keep screaming like that?

**“Calm down Lieutenant! It’s just a girl!”**

I turn to see an older girl in the doorway smiling brightly at me. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.” She bowed politely. “My name is Hibari Yuuka. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Ah! S-Sawada Cielo. I-it’s nice to meet you too.” I bow awkwardly in return.

She looks pretty young with curled, shoulder length red-brown hair (the colour reminds me of the redwood table Katerina bought) and round bronze eyes. She’s wearing a navy blue kimono patterned with white flowers. The red in Kai’s hair is the same as hers, so he didn’t dye it after all… What kind of genes run in this family…?

She sits delicately in the place opposite me. “Thank you for looking after our Kai.”

“Ah. Non. He’s the one always looking after me.” I’m not being humble here, it’s the truth. If I didn’t have Kai as a friend I don’t know what I’d do…

She just giggles and stares at me with this happy look on her face and this sparkly aura; is it just me or are those flowers in the background? Is she really related to Kai? She’s too bubbly and happy… I had pictured all of Kai’s family to be really strict and, for lack of a better word, carnivorous. But this chick is just like a fluffy little bunny rabbit…

Okay, the way she’s staring at me is starting to creep me out. “Umm… I there something you need?”

“Oh! I’m sorry. It’s just that I’m so happy that Kai-chi has finally made a friend!”

 **“Pfft! Kai- _chi_. I am so calling him that from now on!”** It definitely suits his personality.

“…Kai-nii… friend…” I jump at the quiet voice coming from behind me. Turning around I see another, younger, girl peeking around the sliding door that leads to the garden.

“Ara! Tsu-chi! Come and sit here, there’s no need to be shy!” Yuuka-san encouraged.

The girl slowly wandered up to us and sat down next to her. She had long, perfectly straight black hair, her round bronze eyes were half-lidded (as if she were half asleep) and she wore a black kimono patterned with pink flower petals. She looked to be about four or five years old. Kinda looks like a doll too.

“… You are… the small animal… Sawada Cielo…” She stated in a quiet monotone voice.

Yep, she’s definitely Kai’s relative. “Uh…yeah. You must be Kai’s little sister…?”

“…Hibari Tsubaki…” Came the quiet reply.

“Little Tsu-chi has low blood pressure so she doesn’t have much energy.” Yuuka-san said while gently rubbing Tsubaki’s back. True, she looks pretty fragile… But she kinda has this really scary aura around her. Is it my imagination?

“…Kaa-san… tea. Haven’t… offered…yet?”

“Ah! That’s right! How rude of me! I’m so sorry Cielo-kun; I’ll go put on some tea for us now.” She stands up and starts to leave. Her air headedness is reminds me of my Nonna.

“Ah! It’s okay. I don’t really like—” Wait a second… “KAA-SAN?” I’d have stood up if my legs weren’t asleep, so I end up standing on my knees instead, pointing at Yuuka-san.

“Hmm? That’s right. I’m Kai’s and Tsubaki’s mother.” I don’t believe it!

I turn to Tsubaki still pointing to Yuuka-san. “Your Kaa-san?” She nods.

 **“NO WAY!”** LIES!!!

“Is it really that shocking?” Kaa-san asks with a tilt of her head.

“B-b-but! You look young enough to be a high school student! No, a middle school student!”

She just places her hands on her cheeks and blushes. “Ara! How sweet of you to say so.”

Merda! Just how old is she really? I feel like the room’s spinning and my brain shuts down.

**“C-calm down, Lieutenant! Th-there must be a logical explanation for this!”**

“…Kai-nii’s small animal… if you don’t calm down…” With just the slight flick of Tsubaki’s wrist a knife flies past my face. “…I’ll stab you to death…”

“…”

JUST WHAT KIND OF GENES RUN IN THIS FAMILY!!!

At this point Kai _infine_ returns to find a blushing mother, a sister displaying her Japanese knife set and a frozen Cielo, whose brain appears to have overheated.

“…?”

**………..**

After finally calming down everyone settled down to ate the gelato I’d brought. When his mother and sister tried it, the different reactions were kind of funny. His mother practically explodes with excitement, Kai holds in his excitement and Tsubaki has a quiet kind of excitement. I imagine their father’s expression would barely change at all.

I can see the resemblance between Kai and his mother now. Even though his eyes are probably from his dad, if you look carefully you can see they have the same gentleness of his mother’s. The shape of his nose is like his mothers and he does sort of have a similar build to his mother. It kind of pisses me off how he called me a girl on my first day when he’s clearly more feminine than I am… Maybe I should cut my hair…

Tsubaki, I assume, takes after their father. Although her eyes are like her mother’s they have this sharpness to them. Not to mention she has this scary aura and blank expression. The two of them must have inherited their violence and way of talking from their father; that’s the conclusion I came up with. Just what kind of person is their father?

He must be like a wolf. A wolf that married a bunny and had a wolf son, who’s actually a bunny, and a bunny daughter, who’s actually a wolf. Both of which are ridiculously strong and violent…

**“I’d say that the stupidest conclusion you’ve ever come up with, but when I look at them…”**

“Is it really okay for us to have this? There’s so much…” Kaa-san says while helping herself to another portion of gelato. Her actions and words don’t match…

“It’s fine. We have tons of the stuff at home.” Literally, we have so much it doesn’t fit in the freezer. Since Padre couldn’t take us to the festival this year, like he promised, he sent over a whole heap of gelato as an ‘I am sorry’ present. He always goes overboard with these kinds of things, but at least he tries.

“Is that so?” She beams happily. “Then I won’t hold back!” Up until now you’ve been holding back? She has to on her fourth or fifth bowl by now…

“… Is it …?” Tsubaki’s mumbles something to me. She’s staring at me so intensely…

“Ummm…? W-what is it?” I get the feeling she doesn’t talk very much; even less than Kai…

A very tiny blush appears and she looks down. “…Orange… eye…”

“Huh?” My eye!? Why does she know? I glance at Kai who’s completely ignoring my gaze… So, the culprit is you… cazzo…

“That’s right! Kai-chi says you have a pretty orange coloured eye! Tsu-chi has been dying to see it. Ah! If you don’t mind that is.” I think she’s more excited about seeing it than Tsubaki, given the sparkly look in her eyes…

“Uh… Well…” Is it okay to show them? They won’t freak out on me will they…?

 **“I think so. Kai-chi doesn’t care about it so they should be fine too.”** I don’t usually wear my eye patch at home and when Kai had come over I hadn’t bothered much with it. 

“Okay then.” I take it off and rub my eye a little; it was getting itchy anyway.

“…Pretty… orange coloured…” Tsubaki intense stare kind of makes me feel uncomfortable…

“Yes! You have very pretty eyes! The colours remind me of the ocean at sunset!” Her sparkly aura is blinding me! Seriously though, this embarrassing… only my Padre and ‘other’ Madre have ever praised me like this…

“T-th-thank you… It comes from my Padre’s side of the family…” I am _so_ not used to getting this much attention…

“Is that so? Kai-chi also has his father’s eyes.” Called it. “Ah! I know! Just wait a bit!” She rises, clapping her hands together and bounds off somewhere. Is she really an adult?

A hand strokes my long ponytail. “…Soft…” Since when has Tsubaki been right next to me? She moves so quietly, like Kai… I’ve decided! They must be descendants of ninjas! It would explain the stealth and the fact everyone’s okay with them carrying weapons around…

“I-is that so…” She’s totally fascinated with my hair… It’s kind of cute…

“…Fluffy…” She pets my head with one hand and plays with my ponytail in the other. Should I be pissed off? I have absolutely no idea how to react here… Kai just silently clears the table… Why do I get the feeling he planned for something like this to happen…?

**“Just leave her be. She’ll get bored eventually.”**

I guess so. And it doesn’t feel so bad. I wonder where Yuuka kaa-san went off to.

**………**

Half an hour later Kaa-san returns with some photo albums. “Sorry for the wait. It took me a lot longer to find than I thought it would.”

“Ah, that’s okay.” I’d just been sitting quietly with Kai, processing all the information I’d obtained in the past couple of hours. Tsubaki vanished at some point; apparently she had to go get something from her room.

After flipping through an old middle school yearbook, she places it in front of me. “Here.” She points to a boy with scary eyes and his jacket hanging off his shoulders. “This is Kai’s Father~.”

He certainly looks just like Kai… Steel grey eyes, neatly cut black hair and a look on his face that says ‘come near me and I’ll bite you to death’ or something like that. So Kai is just a smaller, cuter version of his father then. They could practically be twins…

Except for the red in his hair; I’d always thought he’d tried to dye it but had messed up and ended up with patches of red. Although, it does suit him and it looks kinda cool. It’s probably like how my hair has random bits of gold through it.

“Why the middle school yearbook…?”

“Sorry. It’s only in these types of photos that he’s looking at the camera.” She opens up another album. In every photo he’s either got his back to the camera or is walking away. “He’s quite shy when it comes to photos.”

 **“He’s definitely just being difficult.”** Agreed…

Huh? Why is my hair untied? Oh. Tsubaki has returned and is brushing my hair. “Ummm…?”

“…Tangled… brushing…” She looks so damn happy. I can’t refuse her now…

“I-I see…” Also, I don’t want to be stabbed to death.

“Cielo-kun’s hair is so fluffy and soft!” Fantastico. Now Kaa-san is petting my head. So Tsubaki takes after her mother after all… “I’m so jealous.”

In this situation, what should I do? Kai’s totally ignoring this… you cazzo… Okay, maybe I should really just cut my hair.

 **“Hey! This kid looks a lot like you Cielo.”** Aigís calls, hovering over the open albums.

I glance down at a class photo. There in the front row is a boy with spiky brown hair and big, round caramel brown eyes. True, he does look a lot like me albeit a bit older and with short hair. Let’s see the name is, ‘Sawada Tsunayoshi’…

“PADRE!?” A shout and hold the book up to my face. My Padre went to the same school as Kai’s father!? And seriously, it’s kind of creepy how similar we look… On second thought, I think I’ll keep my hair long. Yeah, it looks better this way…

“Ara? Is that your father Cielo-kun?” Kaa-san says leaning over my shoulder. “What a coincidence!” She opens up another album. “Here too!”

There are several photos that have both my padre and Kai’s father in them. Although, there are a bunch of other people in them too. I recognise some of them as my ‘uncles’. Well, they’re not actually related to me but they’re close friends of Padre’s and they often visited when I was younger. I think they all work at Padre’s company.

**“Wow. Isn’t that Uncle Gokudera? Geez he looks young.”**

He does indeed. Here he looks like he’s yelling at everyone and Padre is trying to calm him down. Funny, I remember him being a pretty calm and mature man, except when he’s royally pissed off. Then he becomes really foul mouthed and wild, like a storm.

Merda! Is that Uncle Yamamoto? That man scares the crap out of me… He always has this huge grin on his face, but one time when he was babysitting us, he tried to teach us baseball. Masamune did great at it but I failed so badly I got pissed off and snapped the bat in half. I never thought it was possible, but Uncle Yamamoto has to be the most terrifying person alive when angry.  I never touched anything to do with baseball again after that, the trauma was too much…

**“Even Uncle Lambo is there! He’s just a kid though.”**

Uncle Lambo, huh… He had to be my favourite uncle. Only because whenever he babysat us, we got to eat all the candy we wanted and pretty much do whatever we wanted so long as we didn’t wake him from his nap.

One time, I couldn’t sleep so he put on this really long war movie and said: “It’s so long and boring you’re bound to fall asleep eventually.” It was the best movie ever! I must have watched it like fifty times now, but he and Masamune just slept through the whole thing.

Ah! It’s my ‘other’ Madre! So she went the same middle school too. She’s right in the corner; if it wasn’t for her purple pineapple hair I would have missed her. How nostalgic! She often looked after me when Masamune was at the hospital or stuff like that.

Masamune had been born very weak and I vaguely remember having to be at the hospital for a long time. Even just getting a fever had been life threatening for him! So everyone would dote on him while I was left to my own devises most the time.

I remember I often played in the corner of Padre’s office while he worked, so I wasn’t left alone. That’s how I met most of my uncles. But when I met my ‘other’ Madre we got along so well Padre asked her to look after me. I think it might also have something to do with the fact she seems to be the only _sane_ person my Padre knows.

My ‘other’ Madre was kind and gentle, and she was the only person, other than Padre, to treat me and Aigís normally. We spent so much time together that I accidently called her ‘Madre’ once. She was really happy about it though.

After that I learned that she wasn’t able to have any kids of her own for some reason. So I said she could be my ‘other’ Madre if she wanted. I had already considered her as my real Madre rather than the one I had before.

Now that I think about it, what happened to my real Madre? It’s like she just vanished at some point. But I don’t have that many memories of her, so I don’t remember when…

“Ara!” Whoa! Totally got stuck down memory lane there. “It’s already so late! Cielo-kun’s Mother must be worried sick!” Yuuka Kaa-san stands up all worriedly.

“Ah! It’s okay. I live with my aunt not my Madre, and I already told her I’d be out late anyways.” More like I shouted over my shoulder as I left. And she wouldn’t notice anyways, she only cares about Masamune’s wellbeing.

“Is that so? But, you shouldn’t be out so late. What if something bad happens to you?”

Again a woman has said something strange to me. Bad things always happen to me, once more won’t make much of a difference. She’s right about one thing though, the sun is already setting. I have to get home soon otherwise Masamune will eat all my dinner. The maiale…

**……….**

After I gather up my stuff and we make our way to the front gate. “Thank you for having me over today. I had a lot of fun.” The ground is wet, so it must have rained, but it’s clear now.

“Feel free to come over any time sweetie! Next time I’ll be sure to serve you some tea!” She makes a determined face. Is it really such a big deal?

“…Small animal… Bye, bye…” Tsubaki calls quietly from the door way.

“Bye, bye Tsubaki-chan.” Why am I the small animal again? Oh well… I turn to leave.

“…Small animal. Do you know how to get home?” Kai’s voice causes me to stop dead. I turn to him and rub the back of my head with a sheepish smile. “…Follow me…” he says with a sigh.

“Thank you, oh all-knowing one!” I bow playfully.

“…Be sure to remember the way next time…” he mutters with a blush.

“Aye, sir.”

 **“…Hey Cielo.”** Aigís calls as we’re half way down the street.

“What?” I whisper back. Kai never seemed bothered when I talk to Aigís but you never know.

**“Are you gonna go home with your hair like that?”**

“Huh? My hair…?” I feel my ponytail, or what should be a ponytail. My hair has been braided into two long plaits tied with ribbons on the ends. “When did this happen!?”

“…You’re only noticing now?” Kai says with a snort.

“Don’t laugh! If you knew why didn’t you say something!?” I point accusingly at both him and Aigís.

“Because it was interesting.”

 **“Because it was funny.”** They say at the same time, those cazzi!

“Don’t laugh!” I chase after Kai as he stalks away snickering. After I eventually caught him he helped me undo the braids, and took the ribbons home with him when he dropped me off at the school. My hairs all wavy now…

“See you later!” I wave to him as he walks away.

“Hn.” He grunts with a nod. Translation: see you later. I think I’ve become quite good at interpreting his grunts and slight changes in his facial expression.

With a smile I walk the rest of the way home in silence. I really have learnt quite a lot about Kai and his family in just one afternoon. Even some stuff about my own family that I didn’t know. I wonder if my Padre and Kai’s father were good friends like we are.

“AH!” Suddenly I realize something and stop dead.

**“Hmm? What’s wrong?”**

“Captain! We never got to see it!”

**“… Ah! Lieutenant! Our plan has failed!”**

“We forgot about seeing Kai’s bedroom!”

Argh! I was dying to know what it looked like in there! It’s going to kill me not knowing! And so I trudge home practically hitting myself for forgetting our original purpose for going over to his house today.

I guess I can always go another time, I mean, they did say I could come over again. That’s a nice thought. I smile again as I walk through the front door. Then something happened that I wasn’t ever expecting to happen.

“Cielo! You’re home at last!” Katerina greeted me when I came in! Merda! The world must be ending…

“Uh, yeah… I’m back.” Seriously, this is so out of character for her. Hey, Masamune’s shoes are gone. Guess he’s staying at a friend’s house today.

“Now Cielo, summer is ending soon and you know what season comes next, right?” She’s practically singing.

“Uh, autumn.” Why wouldn’t I know what season comes next idiota.

“Yes! Autumn! And you know what special date occurs during autumn, right?” Okay, I get the feeling she wants something from me. But special date? The only the only thing I can think of right now is Halloween and maybe… oh.

“Our Birthday—”

“That’s right! It’s Masamune’s birthday in November!” Should have known. “Now I know it’s a fair way off yet, but the early bird gets the worm and this year is his tenth birthday so I want to make it really special for him!”

“Auntie you do understand the concept of ‘twins’ right?”

“Yep this year’s going to be the best one yet!” Why can’t women hear me in this country? “I’m planning a big surprise party and I need you to help me keep it a secret from Masamune, okay?”

I just stare blankly at her. There’s no use trying to reason with this cagna. Besides, I’ve gotten used to never being heard. “…Fine.”

“Excellent! Now I’m going to invite all his friends and…” She starts to ramble on about her plans but I just block her out. There’s no point in listening when I won’t be part of the festivities.

I hope Padre comes home for our birthday this year. Last year he got held up and couldn’t make it on the day, and Katerina gave Masamune _my_ present from him. I wonder if my ‘other’ Madre will send me a present like last year. I hope it’s the next book in the series we’ve been reading.

Does Kai know about my birthday? Will he celebrate it with me? Does he even celebrate birthdays? I guess it doesn’t matter. Just him being friends with me is the best present I could ever ask for.

And so my life goes on as usual. I don’t mind being ‘dame Sora’, who can’t do sport or get good grades and is a weirdo who talks to himself. It’s who I am after all… I can learn to live with it.


	7. The First Love Project

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are going to get a little bit darker over the next few chapters...

It’s the last week of winter and my last winter as an elementary school student. That’s right!  Starting in April I will be free of that damn elementary school and its horrid teachers! Both Kai and I will be attending Namimori Middle School, which is another plus. If Masamune can get into that fancy boarding school Katerina was talking about, everything will be perfect!

It’s the weekend tomorrow and today I’m walking home with Kai and Tsubaki. Tsubaki walks between us, so she can be next to both of us. She started school last year and the three of us have been going home together almost every day; even though it means I have to take the long way home.

“Winters finally ending, huh.” I yawn out as I stretch my arms over my head. When I let them fall back to my sides, Tsubaki pounces on my right arm and snuggles into me. “Cold?” She nods and buries her face in my coat, her nose and ears are red from the cold.

My lovely warm Italian coat was a Christmas present from Padre two years ago (What? I wanted a new coat). It has my name embroidered on it so Masamune can’t steal it from me, and I’ll still be able to wear it for a couple more winters. My orange scarf and gloves are a gift from Kai, Tsubaki and their mother.

Kai is walking just a few paces ahead of us, wrapped up in about five layers. He absolutely despises the cold weather. Actually it’s quite funny when I think about it. Kai will endure the heat and humidity out of sheer stubbornness, but is defeated so easily by the cold.

He spends most of winter indoors where it’s warm, so we don’t have lunch together on the roof that much. It was too cold for me anyways; I just ate with Sawa-chan throughout most of the winters. His family tends to go overseas during the winter holidays, so I don’t see much of him at all in winter.

It was quite lonely, except when Padre would come home. Sure, he usually brings work home with him and tends to shut himself in his study because of it, but at least he’s there. Last year he’d stayed for a whole week, it was the best Christmas and New Year’s ever!

Masamune and Katerina couldn’t treat me like trash while he was there. As usual, Katerina would have this plastic smile on her face and pretend she cared about us both, whenever he came home. But one time, when I was ten, Masamune started to gloat and call me ‘dame’ and Padre had scolded him while giving Katerina the ‘you’re in big trouble’ look.

Then the two of them had a long talk outside and when they came back in she apologised to me (Masamune too, reluctantly), her face red with anger and voice strained. It was probably the first time someone had stood up for me, aside from every now and then when Kai would save me from getting beat up. (But then he’d pulverise me for letting them beat me up...)

Of course, soon after he had left I got beat up by Masamune and his gang for ‘turning Padre against him’ and Katerina went back to ignoring my existence. I wonder what Padre had said to her to make her apologise? I guess it doesn’t really matter. They’ll only ever treat me nicely when he’s there.

 **“Stop spacing out, we’re here.”** Aigís hovers right in front of my face pulling me from my thoughts. I look up to see we are indeed at the front door of the Hibari residence.

Aw crap… I can’t feel my hand. “Ummm, Tsubaki-chan? Could you please let go of my arm now?” She sluggishly looks up at me then at my arm, before slowly detaching herself from me. “Thank you.” Wow, it’s really numb… Aaah! Pins and needles!

“Small animal… Sister… Hurry up.”  Kai shivers in the doorway, clearly eager to get inside out of the cold.

“Hai, hai. We’re coming.” We hurry after him into the cosy warm house. “Ojyamashimasu!” I call as I take off my boots and coat.

“Ara, Chii-kun! Welcome!” Yuuka Kaa-san pokes her head around the corner at the sound of my voice. For some reason I’m ‘Chii-kun’, well, there are worse nicknames. Actually I was kind of expecting ‘small animal’ but whatever. “Are you staying tonight?”

 **“She looks pretty hopeful there…”** I wish I was staying over…

I shake my head. “We’re just finishing off some last minute assignments.” Or rather, I am and Kai is helping me… “My aunt wants me home before five today.”

“Is that so? That’s a shame.” Why are _you_ looking so disappointed…?

“Maybe some other time.”  She brightens up and scurries away… Is she really an adult?

Katerina has been acting strange lately. I’ve seen lots of men in black suits hanging around our house. They don’t look like the men that work for Padre and when I asked, she said they work for her. She’s been looking really tired too and stopped going to her many social clubs. Instead she seems to have become swamped with paperwork and meetings.

Usually she doesn’t care where I go or for how long. But about a month ago, I accidently fell asleep while practicing with my flame and came home around midnight and she was waiting in the hallway for me. She went absolutely ballistic; screaming how worried she was and that she thought I’d been kidnapped or something!

She’s even had a go at Masamune for staying late at practice! We now have a curfew of being home by 5:00 at the very latest. She almost never lets Masamune go out at all (much to his displeasure) unless she knows exactly where he’ll be and for how long. So long as I’m home by curfew and tell her where I’m going before I leave, she doesn’t make a much of a fuss. Though those guys in suits are following me around… Bodyguard’s maybe?

They escort Masamune everywhere, but they only seem to be following me at a distance. I remember Padre had men in suits escort us everywhere when we lived in Italy, but these guys are more, how to put it, like stalkers. Padre’s men were really noisy, friendly and familiar with us. But then they were living at the mansion with us, like live-in workers or something…

Katerina’s people are clearly only following us around because it’s their job. As in, they only do it to get paid. Kai always glares at them when he sees them trailing along behind us. He’s even bitten a few to death that hang around the house. I wonder if he’s the reason they only follow me at distance? But then again they started out that way, so maybe not…

“Small animal.” Kai flicks me on the forehead. “Pay attention.”

“Ow!” I rub my forehead then stick out my tongue playfully. “Sorry Kai. I’m listening now.”

He narrows his eyes and snuggles further under the kotetsu after sliding my English essay back to me. “Corrections are required.” He deadpans.

**“Wow, that’s a lot of red there kiddo.”**

_“Oh, shut up.”_ I mutter under my breath.

But seriously, I could cry at the amount of corrections he’s made. Since it was clear I’d be stuck here until I finish school I gave up writing everything in Italian and English. Instead I focused solely on Japanese and now my Japanese writing is passable. The only problem now is that I forgot all the English I’d learn in the previous three years…

Up until then English was the only thing I was passing with a decent mark but now… I guess I’m only capable of learning one language at a time. With a deep sigh, I set to work rewriting my essay.

**………**

Two hours later and we’ve finally given up on fixing my essay. At least it’s good enough to get a pass, and that’s good enough for me. Now I’m just lying under the kotetsu in Kai’s room while he reads a book. It took another three months from my first visit before I actually got to see Kai’s room.

At first I was just a tiny bit disappointed that it was almost exactly like I had first pictured it; tatami mat floors, pale purple walls, black covers on his bed and everything was neat and organised. I mean your room is your own personal space right? I was kinda expecting it to be like really disorganised or maybe a sort of cute type room…

But then, when he had left me alone briefly, I happen to peek under his bed to find about a dozen pairs of eyes staring back at me. I would have screamed but I lost my voice. Although, when Kai came back in and saw me he screamed for me… then beat the crap out of me…

Turns out he was hiding an entire army of stuffed animals under there. It took another year before he was comfortable enough with me to stop hiding them. I also discovered that Kai is learning to play the bass guitar. I think it really suits his personality.

Sigh, I have to go home in an hour or so… I don’t want to move…

“Chii-kun, Kai-chi! Would you like some tea?” Yuuka Kaa-san comes in with a tray of tea.

“Yes please!” I sit up as she puts the tray on the table. I’ve come to like tea quite a bit; it’s quite tasty if you just add a little honey or milk, depending on the type of tea. Having something sweet served together with it is very nice too.

“There’s some Daifuku as well.” She sets down a plate of the delicious snack.

“Thank you! Itadakimasu!” I love these! Sigh, I really don’t want to go home now…

We eat in almost total silence. Our relationship as ‘thinking buddies’ never really changed. And we still mostly only have almost conversations. Not to mention our friendship status doesn’t save me from getting a beating for skipping classes or being late… He’s an absolute stickler for rules. But I guess I do get off lighter than most people… just a little.

My gaze drifts to Kai’s black and white bass guitar sitting next to his desk. “…Hey, Kai?”

“Hn…?” He glances up from his book.

“Is bass difficult to learn?”

“Not particularly…” He answers boredly and goes back to reading.

“I’ve been thinking about learn guitar.” I confess while rubbing the back of my head sheepishly.

“…” Kai stares at me before sighing and putting down his book. “Small animal. Bass and guitar are two different instruments.”

“B-but they’re similar, right?”

“…Yes and no…” He gives me a hard stare. “You really want to learn guitar?”

“Yep!” I move my hands like I’m holding an air guitar. “Do you think I could?”

“…” He folds his arms and closes his eyes in thought. “…Coordination is necessary…” He glances at my hands and narrows his eyes. “But, knowing you, you probably won’t need it…”

Is he praising me or is he making fun of me? I can’t tell…

“Do you even own a guitar?” I stiffen at this.

**“He’s got you there kiddo.”**

“Ehehe… N-not yet…” I play with my fingers and look down. “How much is a guitar anyway?”

“You- oh, never mind…” He sighs and shakes his head. “The cheapest ones would be about 5000 yen, but they tend to be in pretty bad condition. For 10,000 yen you can get decent quality… There are some that sell for over 100,000 yen.”

Normally I’d be shocked at the fact he’s speaking in complete sentences, but I was too busy gaping by the large amounts of money he’d listed off…

**“5000… that’s about ten weeks worth of our allowance. And that’s just for the cheapies!”**

Argh! I’d just spent a whole heap of my savings on some new clothes for spring! All my other clothes had either been worn out or been given to Masamune. It’s not like Katerina would buy me new clothes either… I don’t think I have that much money left…

Kai coughs lightly to catch my attention. “The type of guitar is important too… Need to be willing to spend money if you’re serious…”

“I’m serious! I want to learn!” Even if it costs me all that remains of the money I’d saved up for past five years... cries…

He turns away, cheeks slightly pink. “Tomorrow at 10:30, meet me at the underground shopping centre by the station. You can take a look at some guitars for starters…”

“Really? Thank you Kai!” I fling my arms around his neck. “I love you~!”

“Wha—” He becomes rigid in my grasp and his face turns tomato red. “Y-you- Get off!”

“Don’t wanna.” I tease playfully.

There’s steam coming out of his ears  now. “Let. Go. Now. Or. I. Will. Bite. You. To. Death!” He demands through gritted teeth, before pulling out his beloved steel whip and proceeding to follow through with his threat.

“HIEEEEE!” My (un)manly shriek echoes throughout the house.

**“Okay. I think we pushed him just a _little_ too far there…”**

Yep. I don’t think I’ll try that ever again… he’s definitely _not_ a hugger.

**………**

“Hmmm… Will this be enough…?” I sit cross-legged on my bed and stare at what remains of my savings. There’s definitely a lot less than before. Maybe I should just do what Masamune does and whine to Katerina for a raise on my allowance? Nah, she’d never go for it…

Padre set our allowance at 500 yen a week. I put 300 away as savings, keep 100 in my wallet (to satisfy the bullies) and hide the other 100 on my person. Any money left over goes into my savings, though, that doesn’t happen very often…

Katerina gives Masamune double what I get, add to that whatever he steals from me. What does he even do with that much money? Katerina buys pretty much everything for him, so why does he even need it? Yet he’s always asking for a raise. I don’t get him…

**“We have a little over 5000 yen here now.”**

I fold my arms and close my eyes. “Kai said we that we’d need at least 10,000 yen to get a good one though. I want a nice guitar like Kai’s.” It’s a bass though… “And I don’t want it to fall apart after a couple of months either…” The story of my life…

I lift my eyes up to the piece of gold plastic sitting innocently on my pillow. Padre had opened up savings accounts for me and Masamune; ‘for emergencies’ he said. “Do you think Padre would let us use some money from our account?”

**“Maybe… You could always ask him. He gave us a phone number right?”**

“An emergency phone number though… and I don’t want to bother him while he’s working.” The last time he called he sounded so tired, just like Katerina has been… Just what is going on with them lately?

I have this weird feeling, like something bad is about to happen. Normally, I trust my instincts completely but this is not the usual ‘you are in danger’ feeling I get. It’s more like a, how to put it, ‘brace yourself’ kind of feeling or something like that. I really don’t get it… just what am I supposed to be doing?

With a sigh I push those thoughts to the back of my mind. I’ve never been good at thinking over difficult problems, it’ll just give me a headache. “I guess I’ll just give him a call and if he’s busy, then we’ll just go without.”

Kai did say we were just going to take a look. I don’t even know what kind of guitar I should be buying anyway. I’ll just have to wait until tomorrow.

**………**

It’s not as cold today so I’m just wearing a black long sleeve shirt, an orange t-shirt, a light blue hoodie and a thick pair of jeans. I think I’ll still take my gloves and scarf though. “And where might you be going?” Katerina voice booms from the stairway as I sat down to put on my sneakers.

Merda, she looks like crap! Her brownish blonde hair looks like a birds nest (usually its tied in a neat bun), her make up’s all smudged and she’s wearing the same dress suit from yesterday. It’s got some stains on it and it looks like she slept in it. And, geez, does she look pissed.

“Out. Shopping with Kai. Back after lunch.” Not wanting to be on the receiving end of her anger I rush through my answer and hurriedly put on my shoes.

“Stop right there! What if something happens to you? You could be kidnapped! Or worse, killed! Then where would I be?” She starts ranting with this crazed look in her eyes. Is she worried about me? No. I don’t feel it is me she’s worried about… but then, what?

“I’ll be fine.” I have Aigís to protect me. “Besides you have those guys in suits following me around anyways.” Her eyes widen in surprise and she mutters something under her breath. It sounded like, ‘blood of vongola’… Clam’s blood!?

What. The. Hell.

**“Okay! She has officially lost it.”**

Yep. Maybe I should call a doctor… She has been looking incredibly paranoid lately. She might be so stressed that she’s become sick in the head… I was about to suggest that she go lie down but she cuts me off.

“I have the responsibility to look after you! I have to keep you safe! Why can’t you follow the simplest of instructions; always running off somewhere and doing who knows what! Just do as I say and STAY INSIDE WHERE IT’S SAFE!”

_ “Will you eat or be eaten?” _

I heard the voice of my nightmare echo inside my head. Next thing I know, the vase sitting on the table next to Katerina blows up.

I don’t know why I did it. It was like she’d just pressed a switch inside me and I just snapped. I didn’t even realise I’d done it until she screeched and jumped back as shards of porcelain were blown around the hallway.

She flopped to the floor, her hands on her head. Then she started babbling under her breath. Things like ‘monster’, ‘demon’ and ‘cursed blood’. Such words meant nothing to me since I hear them almost every day from Masamune and his thugs. Apparently it’s a school wide rumour that I’m possessed by a demon or some such nonsense.

_ “A demon, huh. How fitting.” _

_Shut up. You’re not real. Just a nightmare; I figment of my imagination!_   I squeeze my eyes shut and will it to disappear. He just laughs that eerie laugh of his and then it becomes quiet again.

When I open my eyes again the door bursts open and several of the guys in suits peer questioningly inside. They sure took their time. The mood became serious when they saw the state of my aunt bleeding on the floor and the broken vase. All eyes shift to me, just standing unmoving in the entranceway.

“I don’t need you to protect me.” I glare at her and adjust my eye patch. “I’m plenty old enough.” I turn around and push past the bewildered men. “I can take care of myself.”

I charge blindly past the front gate and down the street. Faintly I can hear Katerina slapping away someone’s hand and shrieking orders at those men. But I didn’t hear a single word she said, nor do I see a where I’m going.

 **“Cielo. What happened back there?”** I just shake my head at a loss for words.

This is not the first time I’ve heard his voice while I’m awake. But the timing was just too perfect. I thought I’d become accustom to the nightmares. They were such a frequent occurrence that I simply got used to it. But, I guess, I am still afraid after all…

Some nights I get about two or three hours sleep. Some nights I just plug in my headphones and listen to music until dawn. Most nights I just lay awake on my bed the whole night. Permanent dark circles have formed beneath my eyes as a result. I’ve also lost my appetite lately. Maybe that’s why I’m so short…

I mostly live off snacks and tea. My tiredness is part of the reason as to why I’ve come to like tea. It relaxes my nerves and warms me up, so I usually end up being able to take a nap after having some. I tried some coffee once, but I don’t think I made it right. It was horribly bitter and powdery and it left me all hyper for the whole night…

I had always liked the smell of coffee, probably because it reminds me of Padre. The faint scent of coffee always stuck to his clothes. But the one I had didn’t smell or taste like what I was used to. I haven’t tried to make it since then; I’ll probably just mess it up again.

I come to my senses as I stop for the lights at the intersection near the train station. Wow, I made it all the way here without tripping or getting lost. I shake my head to get rid of all the depressing thoughts. That’s right. I’m going shopping for a guitar with Kai today. I won’t let my aunt or my nightmares get in the way.

I make my way to the entrance of the underground shopping centre, totally ignoring the bad feeling still lingering in my gut. As well as the presence of Katerina’s men following me at an even further distance than usual.

**………**

Damn, it hurts! “Did you really have to hit me so hard?” I sniffle, clutching my throbbing head, at the fuming carnivore marching ahead of me.

“You were late.” He nonchalantly states without glancing back at me.

“By like two minutes!” I speed up to walk beside him.

“Late is late.” He just brushes me off and charges ahead. Oh, I give up… there’s no reasoning with this dictator.

“Hmm?” I glance at the big bag slung over his shoulder. “You brought your bass?”

“Hn.” He nods slightly and adjusts the strap. “For maintenance.”

“Eh? Is it broken?” It didn’t look like it yesterday though…

He flicks my forehead. “Of course not, small animal, regular maintenance is required. Like changing the strings and such.”

“Oh, I see. So guitars need constant upkeep.” Guess there’s a lot more to it than just learning to play music…

“Every instrument does.” Kai replies with a sigh.

“But you must really love your bass; it always looks so clean and pretty.” It looks brand new, as if he’s never actually touched it. But he probably practices a lot, given his serious personality.

His cheeks turn pink and he looks away. “I-it’s only natural to look after one’s instrument…”

“Heheh, if you say so.” I grin and fold my arms behind my head.

“A-anyway,” Aw, he’s trying to change the subject. “Do you have enough money?”

 **“I’d say that was a successful subject change.”** …Just what are you implying?

“I have about 5000 yen but,” I rummage through my wallet and pull out my gold card. “Padre said I could use some money from my savings fund! With a limit of 10,000 yen though…”

“Hn…” Kai eyes the card in my hand. “15,000 yen should be sufficient.” With a satisfied nod he stalks off down the long line shops.

“Ah! Wait up!” I slip the card back in my wallet and chase after him.

As we walk in comfortable silence my mind wanders to last night’s phone call to Padre. He sounded as though he hadn’t slept in a week. I could clearly picture the dark circles under his eyes, his wrinkled suit and the tired smile on his face.

He seemed to be in some kind of meeting given all the shouting in the background. I was going to just hang up but he said it was okay to talk for a bit. I think he might have just wanted a break from all the noise and turmoil over there. He must have left the room because the shouting suddenly got quieter after that.

We chatted for a little while. Nothing all that important, just things like the weather and how much I hate my homeroom teacher (I swear that Kyoko woman has it in for me). We always just talk about stupid things like that, but I still like talking with him. I’m glad I called.

At first he started to lecture me about commitment when I asked about the guitar. But after a few minutes of begging and promising to practice every day he gave in. He then had me promise to play something for him when he comes home. That kinda makes me nervous, I’m gonna have to practice real hard so I can give him a good performance.

He had to hang up after a really loud shout of: “ _VOOOOOIII! WHERE DID THE TRASH BOSS GO?_ ” and several loud crashes. What kind of meeting are they having? With all the noise and yelling over there it’s no wonder Padre is so tired…

**………**

Kai took me to this little music shop tucked away behind all the big brand stores. If you didn’t know about it before hand you probably wouldn’t be able to find it. Although, I probably wouldn’t be able to find anything in here anyway; this place is so damn huge!

And the layout is ridiculous, it’s like they just crammed in as many shops as possible in any space they could find. Not to mention all the crowds of people walking around in here. Although they mostly avoided us due to Kai’s intimidating presence, it was still pretty crowded. Much to his displeasure.

Surprisingly the music shop had quite a few costumers in there. Not so many that it would enrage the beast, but more than I thought there would be. Guess it must be a well-known store or something.

 **“This place is packed with instruments! Just look at all those guitars!”** Aigís floats over to a wall with a heap of guitars displayed across it. There are so many! How am I supposed to choose one?

“Small animal.”  Kai calls from behind me. “Don’t get separated.”

…Just what are you implying?

I pout slightly at him and he just grunts in response before making his way up to the counter. A youngish looking man walks over to us, a bright smile on his face. I wonder how long he’ll be keeping that happy look on his face for…

“Welcome! What can I do for you today?” The other employees seem to be avoiding us with fearful looks on their faces, guess Kai must be a regular here. This guy’s probably new then…

Kai glares at him, making him flinch, then indicates to the bag on his back. “Maintenance… for my bass...”

“C-certainly. May I see the bass?” He’s getting a little nervous now, but I’ll give him points for keeping his professional smile.

“Hn…” Kai slides the bag off his shoulder and places it on the counter.

“Let’s see…” He opens up the bag and inspects the bass carefully. “Oh! A Redwood RB4! This is a very nice bass. I also had—”

He stops short when he looks up at Kai glaring daggers at him. “I’m not here for small talk herbivore. Hurry up or I’ll I bite you to death.” His whip magically materializes in his hands. Seriously, where is he keeping it? I must find out.

“H-hai!” He stutters. “I-it j-just needs the strings changed and s-some minor alterations!” Hurriedly he place it back its case. “I-it won’t take long s-so you can just wait in the store.” He then speeds away, probably to starts on the repairs.

 **“Well. It didn’t take long for him to break down. I bet he’ll cry next time Kai-chi comes in.”** Yes… there is a high probability of that happening…

“Small animal. Guitars are over there.” Kai points to the wall we were looking at before. Oh, right. I’m supposed to be looking for a guitar today… Thoughts on the doom of the codardo clerk were distracting me.

“Right! Let’s go then!” I grab his arm and drag him over to the guitars. He just grumbles a little and glares furiously at the shocked staff gaping at us from around the store.

**………**

There are just so many guitars! They come in all kinds of shapes, sizes and colours too. I don’t know how I’m supposed to pick one… “Is there some kind of criteria I should be following when choosing…?” I turn to Kai.

“Of course there is.” He deadpans. “There’s the tone quality and you should consider the weight, its shape, the width of the neck is important to and…”

Stares blankly at him.

He sighs in defeat. “For now, let’s just look at the cheaper ones…” I grin sheepishly and follow him down the aisle.

 **“Hm? These guitars look a bit different.”** Aigís stops in front of some kind of special display.

“…?” They do look a bit different somehow. Ah! There’s a sign in English. “L-lefuti fu-faur?”

“ _Lefty Fair.”_ Kai corrects me. “It’s a special sale of left-handed guitars.”

“Oooooohhh.” So that’s why they look different from the others. I glance at the price tag of the one in front of me. “Eh! 100,000 yen!”

“Left-handed guitars are pretty rare so they tend to be expensive.” He walks up beside me to look at them. “These are more likely to become collectors’ items.”

“Eeeehh… That so…” Why would you collect guitars and not play them? I kinda feel sorry for them… I scan my eyes over them as we begin to walk away. Suddenly, one guitar catches my eye and I run up to it crouching down in front of it.

“This guitar is really cool!” Its dark yellow that turns black at the edges and the neck is silver and black.

**“It says, ‘Epiphone Nighthawk – Fireburst’. Even its name is cool!”**

“Fireburst?” It makes me think of the day I discovered my flames.

“Fireburst is the colour scheme.” Kai returns looking a bit irritated.

“Oh, okay.” I can’t take my eyes off it. It’s just so cool! And it’s ‘fireburst’! I can totally feel something here. “This one.” I murmur. “I can feel it in my heart!”

**“What?”**

“What?”

“I want this one!” I declare as I stand up.

“WHAT!? Are you an idiot?” Kai whacks me on the head. “Besides this is a left-handed guitar!” He stops shouting suddenly. “Actually, I’ve been thinking this for a while now but… Are you…left or right handed?”

“I’m… I… I don’t…know…” I stare at my hands. I’ve never actually thought about it before…

“What the- how can you not know?” Merda! He looks like he might explode!

“But, but I’ve always used them both evenly!” I cover my head with my arms. Kai just sighs and mutters to himself under his breath. I stare at my hands again and flex my fingers a bit. “Hmm… the left one is a little easier to use… so I guess I’m left handed?”

“…Fine…whatever…” He rubs his temples. “So, how much is it?”

I look at the price tag. “…” I rub my eyes a bit and look again. “200,000 yen!” It’s so far out of my range… cries…

“…Being a lefty makes it more expensive. This kind of guitar is a little too big for you right now. You need a smaller, lighter one.”

“But I like this one…” I mutter miserably crouching back down in front of it.

“…” he folds his arms and sighs again. “…You… really want this one?”

I nod and mutter, “Its love at first sight…”

**“You’d better just give up on it. You’ll never get enough money for it.”**

“I’ll get a job.” I shot back defiantly.

“The lefty fair only lasts another week. They’ll either be sold or sent away by then.” Kai interjects. “You’ll never get enough money in time.”

“Dream killer…” I sniffle. “If there’s love then anything’s possible!” I’m getting desperate now… But I really, really want this guitar!

“You—”

“That’s right, Cielo-kun!” A strangely familiar female voice cuts him off. “As long as there’s love anything is possible!” We turn around, with a sense of dread, to find none other than…

“Haru-san!” In a freaking maid outfit!

What. The. Hell.

**“Why the diamine is she here!? And in a maid outfit to boot!”**

The last time I saw her was dressed as a construction worker, directing traffic. Before that she was a policewoman. And before that she was teaching a bunch of kindergarteners. Just what does this woman actually _do_ for a living!?

She runs up to me (crap, I can’t pretend I don’t know this weird chick now…) and grabs my hands. “I understand Cielo-kun!” Understand what? “The pain of one-sided love is unbearable!” One-sided love? “But, don’t worry! Haru will make sure your feelings reach your beloved!”

I’m very worried now… I’m not even sure I’m following the conversation anymore… I don’t think Kai is either, but he looks really pissed off that we ran into her again. Seriously, I feel like I’m being stalked. Well, technically I am… by the men in suits. But that’s beside the point.

She looks over my shoulder. “Is this the one?”

“Huh?” I just stare blankly at her. Oh, the guitar. “Um… yeah.”

“Your budget?” She turns to me again.

“Oh… umm, 15,000 yen…”

She examines it for a while before reaching for the price tag. “Alright! Leave it to Haru!” She suddenly stands up (did I hear trumpets just now?) and dashes off to counter.

“What was that?” I still haven’t caught up with her yet.

“Who knows…?”

About a minute later she returns with a triumphant smile on her face and makes the victory sign with her hand. “They’ll sell you this guitar for 15,000 yen!”

“For real!?” Even Kai looks shocked. “How… I mean, what did you do?”

She places her hands on her hips. “Of course, I bargained for a discount.” She proclaims proudly.

“Eeehh!? Are you for real?” I can’t believe this woman.

“All’s far in love and war!” She recites while waving her finger. “If you don’t grab hold of your love with both hands now you’ll lose it forever.” She has a wistful look in her eyes.

“Haru-san…” I run up to her and grasp her hands. “I’ve misjudged you! You’re a really great person!” I declare all teary eyed. “Can I call you Haru-nee? You can call me Cielo.”

“Hahi! Of course you can Cielo!” She replies tears appearing in her eyes

“Haru-nee!”

“Cielo!”

Sparkles glitter and flowers bloom in the background as we share a moment together.

A moment which Kai decided had to end. “Are you going to buy that guitar or not?”

“Ah! That’s right! I’ll go buy it now!” I skip happily up to the man at the counter who seems to be crying.

**“Just what did she say to get that discount?”**

Don’t know, don’t care. All that matters is I’m getting my guitar.

**………**

We said goodbye to Haru-nee at the exit. I wonder what is as she was doing there anyway… Oh, well. I glance at my guitar again. It’s a bit big and heavy but I can handle it. I can’t wait to start playing!

“Are you going to be able to carry that home?” Kai eyes me questionably.

“It’s fine. I’m not that weak.” Although I’ll have to watch my step. I don’t want to break it just after buying it…

“Hn…” He grunts doubtfully but otherwise says nothing.

We walk the rest of the way home in silence. I don’t really want to go home. Especially after what happened this morning, but I think Kai has had enough excitement for one day and I want to hurry up and start practicing.

Before we part ways Kai gives me a music book called ‘Guitar for Dummies’… Am I being made fun of? Or is he really just trying to help me? I don’t know…

**“It’s not like you know how to read music anyways.”**

“Gee, thanks for that…” I mutter dryly.

I trudge through the front gate and up to the door. I really don’t want to deal with Katerina anymore… Not to mention Masamune would probably be back from practice by now… I’ll just go in and run up to my room as quickly as possible.

I open the door and swiftly kick my shoes off, not bothering to say ‘I’m home’ since no one here actually cares. But as I begin to dash up the stairs Katerina calls me from the kitchen. Curses, why must my plans always be foiled? With a dejected sigh I slump back down the stairs and into the kitchen.

Masamune glares at me then turns to Katerina who eyes me coldly. She looks a bit better now; maybe she had a nap or something. She raises her chin and announces, “There are going to be some new rules.”

**“Hurray. More tyranny…”**

Masamune looks pretty cranky as she lists off a pile of restrictions. She’s practically put us under house arrest. We’re only allowed to go to school and to clubs, in Masamune’s case. Other than that we have to come straight home, no matter what.

Masamune immediately started whining. But for once Katerina stands firm. Okay, there is definitely something going on here. Just what is she trying to do? She keeps talking about kidnappings and murder. Is someone after us?

My gut tingles at this thought; I guess that must be it then. But who, and why? A grudge maybe? Padre does own a huge company, maybe someone got fired and wants revenge or something… nah, I doubt that’s it…

Well, for the time being I won’t be able to practice with my flame. But I’ll have lots of time to practice guitar. When it seems like she’s finished ranting I return to my room and set up the stand for my guitar. After it’s done I take a step back and admire it.

“…It’s so cool!”

**“You gonna start playing or are you just going to stare at it?”**

“But it’s just so cool, and shiny and new. I’m kinda afraid to touch it.” I glance at the book Kai gave me. “For now, I’ll start by reading this.”

**“Okay then.”**

I ended up practicing with it until really late. I really love this guitar! I got so excited I ended up sleeping with it and the strings made marks of my neck and cheek. Tsubaki told me they were ‘love marks’. Somehow, I get the feeling that she shouldn’t know that phrase. I don’t really get it, but then again, I don’t get a lot of things…


	8. The Bad Feeling Project

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is particularly dark with mentions of death and maybe things get just a tad graphic... but not too much, I think.
> 
> But on a brighter note, Tsuna finally makes an appearance!

“I’M SO FREAKING BORED!” Masamune’s scream made me jump and nearly drop my guitar.

It’s been about two weeks since we’ve been living under the tyrant’s new rules. We’ve been stuck at home pretty much the whole time, and when we do go out Katerina and about twenty guards have to come with us.

Masamune was furious and would sulk the whole time, but I just stopped going out altogether. I miss Kai and Tsubaki though… We still see each other at school and walk home together but the day is just so long when you have no one to spend it with…

At least I’ve been able to practice a lot with my guitar. Kai was right though, it is a little too big for me… I have to stretch my arms and fingers when I play it and it’s kind of heavy too. I’ve decided to drink a carton of milk everyday so I can grow tall enough to play it properly. I try to eat more as well.

Masamune is still whining and complaining to Katerina downstairs. How can he be bored? He has like every game console known to man in his room, and like a hundred games to go with them. He’s got his own flat screen TV and computer and a laptop too! He’s become like Katerina and throws out his stuff when a new version comes out.

I rescued his old laptop, iPod and mobile phone from the trash. They just needed a little cleaning up that’s all. I don’t really use the phone since I have no one to call; Kai doesn’t have a mobile (like me, he doesn’t have any use for it) and I don’t want to bother Padre at work. But you never know, one day I might need a phone, so I kept it.

I’ll probably be getting his Xbox or PlayStation when the next version of those comes out too. I just need to get a TV to plug them. I could probably get an old one for cheap at a second hand shop somewhere. But I’m pretty much good with just having the laptop to play on. I don’t see how Masamune can get bored of these things so easily.

I stretch a bit and go back to practicing chords. Kai’s come over a couple of times and he taught me a few chords and how to tune my guitar. He wouldn’t come very often, partly because he hated going out in the cold, and partly because he despised my aunt and brother quite a bit. He finds them ‘annoyingly herbivorous’ or something like that.

The sound from my guitar isn’t very loud and when I asked Kai about it he said I need to plug it into an amp. So the other day I brought it to school and we borrowed one from the music room. It sounded so amazing! It sent shiver down my spine just by playing a couple of chords. Now I’m saving up so I can buy my own amp.

**“They’re still at it down there…”**

Masamune is throwing a huge tantrum now. “Why won’t he just give it a rest? He’s only making Katerina more stressed out.” To which is not a good thing right now.

The thumping and screaming carries on for a few more minutes before it calms down. Finally I can practice in peace again. As I think that, footsteps stomp up the stairs and my door is flung open. I nearly drop my guitar again.

Turning around I see Masamune’s head poking up through the doorway, red with anger. “Mum says we’re going shopping, so move it freak!” He grumbles through gritted teeth.

 **“What? Shopping?”** Why is it ‘we’?

He starts to leave. “Wait! Why do I have to go?” I already bought all my clothes and stuff. And I’d already had my measurements taken for the new school uniform as well.

“Like I would know, idiot! Ask her!” He shouts and stomps away leaving me totally confused.

With a sigh I place my guitar back on its stand and head downstairs. Katerina is in the kitchen reapplying her make up. She seems to have recovered some of her sanity and energy over the past week. Did something good happen, or did she just get some drugs from a doctor?

“Cielo. Get ready, we’re leaving in five minutes.” She says without sparing me a glance.

“…Why do I have to go too?” I don’t whine, that’s Masamune’s thing, instead I just complain boredly. I’d rather just stay home with my guitar than follow them around for the whole day.

“Because Ma-kun needs some new clothes, and I’m certainly not letting a problem child like _you_ out of my sight!” She spits out the ‘you’ disgustedly and sends me a glare. “Don’t think that I don’t know you’ve been sneaking out.”

Damn, I’ve been found out. **“Guess we underestimated her…”**

Lately my instincts have been flaring up randomly. One minute I’ll get the ‘Danger! Danger! Run for your life!’ feeling and proceed to bolt down the street. Then the next minute it’ll be gone, like a ‘sorry, false alarm’ kind of thing; it’s been driving me nuts! So I give my ‘escorts’ the slip and hide in the abandoned building. There I’m free to vent my frustration by blowing some stuff up with my flame.

“Three minutes!” Katerina calls impatiently as she heads to the bathroom.

I just shrug in response and head back upstairs to grab my wallet and iPod. It’s easier to just go along with her rather than argue and be stubborn about it. Besides it’s a pain in the ass and I just can’t be bothered right now.

I hope all this fuss ends by the spring break. I don’t want to spend the whole four weeks stuck at home with my whining brother and crazy aunt. I had planned to stay with Kai for most of the break. Sigh, at least Padre will be home next week for the graduation ceremony. Maybe I can ask him what all this is about.

**………**

“I’m so freaking bored…” I sigh quietly to myself. “I’ve had enough; I want to go home…”

 **“I never want to go shopping with Katerina ever again.”** Agreed.

She has to go into every clothing store she sees and try on everything. How does Masamune put up with this? The two of them are walking a few paces ahead of me chatting away happily, while I have to carry most of their bags… As I thought, I’m not going to get anything out of this.

She already bought Masamune several brand name shoes, shirts, jeans and jackets. He also got a new skateboard and some fancy art supplies, which cost a fortune I might add… Seriously, why am I here again? They clearly don’t want to be associated with me.

I glance around at the men in black ‘hiding’ around the plaza. They stand out so much with those suits… One guy with sun glasses walks next to Katerina. The other guys all look the same but this guy looks more high class or something. I think he must be the head of security or whatever these guys are.

“Masamune!” Someone yells. I look up to see some of Masamune’s thugs waving at him from outside an arcade. He turns to Katerina with the polite smile he reserves for adults when he wants something from them.

“Mama Katerina?” He begins pleasantly.

 **“Here we go.”** I resist the urge to roll my eyes.

“Yes darling.” She turns to him with a gentle look on her face. Cue eye roll.

“I’m sure mama still has a bit of shopping to do,” We’re not done yet!? “So may I please play with my friends at the arcade until you are finished?”

Oh, I see. The maiale planned this out in advance! He just needed an excuse to come here so he could meet up with his friends! That scheming little cazzo…

Katerina looked a little reluctant, but then he whipped out the puppy dog eyes. “Of course you may dear, but just stay put until I come back, okay?”

 **“She’s conveniently forgotten that he was screaming and crying at her just a couple of hours ago…”** Why does he always get away with these kinds of stunts?

“Yes mama!” He beams and shoves his bags into my hands, then runs over to his friends.

Katerina turns to the sun glasses man and tilts her head towards the arcade. He nods and whispers into his earpiece. Three guys then follow Masamune in and another two stand guard outside. So he is the boss of the suits after all. Totally called it.

“Come along, Cielo.” Katerina calls formally as she starts off again.

Fantastico, now I’m stuck following my aunt for the rest of the day… Maybe I should just slip away. I mean, these guys aren’t all that competent. I can just wander off when they’re not looking or something. But then again, that sun glasses guy doesn’t seem like such a pushover.

“ _Think we could escape?”_ I mutter quietly in Italian to Aigís.

 **“Hmm…”** He floats up behind him, giving him a once over. I saw him stiffen slightly at Aigís’ presence. **“I don’t know. He’s quite a formidable opponent. We’ll have to be pretty smart about this.”**

I give a slight nod in response and begin plotting my escape.

**……….**

I hug my knees as I watch the legs of various people walk past and think back on the events that led to me hiding here in this clothes rack…

Katerina wanted to look in a very pink and frilly looking store, so I said I’d wait outside with sunglasses. She gave him a pointed look that said, ‘don’t let him out of your sight’ and disappeared inside.

We stood in awkward silence for a few minutes before I began to put my escape strategy into effect. First I tried to make small talk, but he wouldn’t budge. My lack of social skills didn’t really help much. It was so much harder than talking with Kai or Padre…

Then I tried to get away with the excuse of: “can I just go look in that store?” Again he stood firm. This guy must be like one of those British palace guards that don’t move no matter what! I was running out of time, Katerina would come back!

Out of ideas I even tried the pathetic strategy of: “behind you!” and tried to make a break for it. He grabbed my shoulder before I could get away… This guy is a formidable opponent indeed. Nothing like his bumbling subordinates.

When I heard Katerina call “I’m back!” I panicked and on impulse kicked him in the nuts. I winced and apologised quickly as he doubled over, before throwing down my bags and making a mad dash in the opposite direction of my furious aunt.

After dodging some of the men in black and tumbling over several clothes racks, shop displays and people that happened to be passing by, I dove into a random store. So here I am, hiding beneath this rack of jeans, hoping Katerina won’t try to kill me when I get home.

**“I applaud you for getting away, but, maybe you should have thought this through a little more…”**

“ _Shut up. I panicked, okay!”_ I grumble softly as some chick stands in front of me, very slowly looking over each and every pair of jeans. I suddenly remember something I’d read on the internet the other day and call out quietly, “Pick me! Pick me!”

“Ara?” She jumped a little and asked rather innocently, “Which one of you said that?” Awww, that’s not the reaction I wanted…

**“That was interesting… Keep going I wanna see what she does!”**

Well I’m stuck here anyway. I grab a random pair of jeans and wiggle it a bit. “Me! Me!” Then I grab another. “No, me!  Pick me!” I make a slightly different voice from the first.

“Ara? Dear me, what should I do? I only have enough for one pair right now…” She sounds genuinely troubled. Wow, this chick is gullible.

From the size of her feet and sound of her voice she has to around about my age. I think… I can only see her indigo boots and black stockings patterned with little white bows, so I really have no idea. I grab another pair that I guess to be close to her size, “Don’t listen to them! Just try me on and see for yourself!”

“Ara, is that so? Then I’ll take you up on that offer!” She picks it up and scurries off. Well, that was something I’d never thought I’d ever do in my life.

**“Hey! She dropped something.”**

I look down to see an indigo string of beads on the floor in front of me. With a sigh I pick them up, I can’t ignore it now that I’ve played a prank on her. I peek under the jeans and check for any men in black and my aunt. The coast looks clear.

**“I think we’re good. I can’t see any of them around.”**

With a nod I ‘inconspicuously’ creep out of my hiding place. A nearby man scoffs and grumbles something about the “behaviour of children these days.” I roll my eyes and set off to find indigo boots girl. Since I don’t know what she looks like I have to rely on Aigís and hope she was the only person wearing those boots and stockings.

**“I saw her go towards the change rooms.”**

Fantastico, now I have to wait in the store for her… Luckily for me it has boy’s clothes as well as girls clothes. So I pretend to look at some shirts while keeping an eye out for indigo boots and bow stockings.

“…”

**“…”**

Wow, girls take forever to try on stuff… Wait. What if she already left!? What do I do? Should just take it to the lost and found? No wait. What if she comes back here? Should give it the lady at the counter? Or should I just wait here? Argh, why is everything so damn hard?

I got so absorbed in my inner meltdown that I didn’t hear Aigís calling me. I didn’t come to my senses until I heard him say, **“And she’s gone…”**

“What?” I spin around just in time to see the heel of her boots disappear around the corner. “Ah! Why didn’t you say something!?” I growl at him as I dash after her.

**“I did. About ten times.”**

“Well, I wasn’t listening!” I stumble through the crowd, geez she move fast, keeping my eyes on her legs so as not to lose her. “Ummm! Miss! Wait!” I try to get her attention but she doesn’t slow down. Well, I don’t know her name so it’s not like she could know that the ‘miss’ I’m calling is her…

She stops and briefly in front of a bakery so I lunge forward and grab her arm. She squeaks quietly in surprise and spins around to face me. By now I’m totally out of breath and I probably look like a total mess.

I hold up the damn beads. “This… You… Dropped…” I manage to wheeze out.

“Ara?” She rummages through all her pockets. “It’s gone!” That’s why I’m here idiota! Geez is she slow. “Thank you so much! I don’t know where I’d be without these!”

They’re just beads… “N-no problem…” I turn to leave but she grabs my hand. A strange feeling tingles from my fingertips up arm. It’s similar to the one I get from Kai and sometimes Tsubaki. I feel weird, like the flame inside me is being pulled…

“Let me buy you a treat! I must thank you for returning these!” Her soft pinkish eyes sparkle.

“Ah. N-no… s’fine…” I’m not very good at talking to people, much less a girl…

“Please I insist! I can feel a strong spiritual presence around you!” You what? She stares over my shoulder. “It must be fate that we met here today!” Why do I attract all the crazies?

 **“Wow, she’s just full of it. ‘Fate’ is what you call it when you don’t know the name of the cazzo screwing you over.”** True that. That bastardo, Fate, screws me over all the time.

Suddenly, her pocket starts making weird beeping noises. “Ah! Please excuse me a second.” She pulls out a phone and looks at the screen a bit before pouting a little. “Oh, I have to leave now…” She grabs my hands. “My name is Allaire Kasumi! And you are?”

“Oh… um…Sawada Cielo… Can call… Sora… if too hard…” I mumble a little put off by her closeness.

“Cielo... That’s a lovely name. I hope we shall meet again, Cielo-kun! Au Revoir!”  Her aura is really bright as she dashes away, her peach blonde hair flying over her face a little as she turns and waves at me.

I just wave numbly back kind of bewildered at the way I seem to keep meeting strange people in weird ways like this. Maybe I’m cursed…

**“That girl creeps me out…”**

“Huh? Why?”

**“I swear she was looking straight at me. Not _through_ me, _at_ me!”**

“I think you’re just being paranoid. No one else has been able to see or hear you up until now, right?” I’d been stuck with him since birth (literally stuck to him) so I think I’d notice something like that.

But then again there was that weird feeling… Nah, it was like the one I get from Kai so that’s not it. Plus my feelings haven’t been all that reliable lately… With a sigh (I feel like I’ve been sighing a lot recently) I wander down to the exit and make my way home. Katerina’s probably gonna give me hell when I get back…

Half way home I got the ‘run for your life’ feeling again and almost ignored it, but my feet started moving on their own. And then I felt genuinely afraid; someone or something was definitely there this time.

A really strong hateful presence was behind me and didn’t stop following me until I reached my street. I didn’t stop until I was safely inside the front door. Of course Katerina was there and began to rant again but I just brushed her off and ran up to my room with her yelling after me.

I don’t care that I won’t get any dinner. I’m not that hungry any more anyway…

**………**

I didn’t want to go to school today, but it’s the last week and I don’t want to stay home with Katerina today either… So I dragged myself out of bed and reluctantly got ready for school. I took the long way to school since Masamune doesn’t want to be seen together with me.

Get bitten to death for being late: check.

Take the nails and tacks out of my indoor shoes: check.

Scrub the graffiti off my desk: check.

Be called up to answer questions I don’t understand: check. (Why can’t you leave me alone, Kyoko-sensei?)

Trip on someone’s leg: check.

Get beat up and my lunch stolen: check.

Spend recess and lunch with Sawa-chan because Kai is busy patrolling today: check.

Fall over: check.

Trip during sport: check.

Get a ball to the face (on purpose I might add) and blood nose: check.

Be forced to try out Sawa-chan’s weird tea (today’s was drinkable): check.

Get called to teacher’s lounge: check.

Defend my hard earned score of 80 on the maths exam, since I didn’t cheat: check.

Be ignored: check.

Be saved by Sawa-chan who helped me study: check.

Kai asks (read ‘threatened’) me to take Tsubaki home for him: check.

Take the snails out of my boots: check.

Get attacked on my way to pick up Tsubaki: check.

Get picked up by Tsubaki instead: check.

The tingly feeling in my gut being present all day: check.

Feeling like something horrible is about to happen: check.

I wish I’d stayed in bed today. But hey, I’ve had a fairly good day today. There have definitely been worse. At least I get to talk with Tsubaki for a bit. She clings to my arm, apparently she really missed me. That makes my chest feel comfortably warm…

“…Small animal…?” Tsubaki starts quietly and stops moving.

“Hmm? What is it?” I look down to see her blushing, her bangs cover her eyes and she’s clutching the front of her skirt.

“…to…i…le…t…” She mumbled so quietly I almost didn’t hear her.

“You need to use the bathroom?” She nods lightly. That’s right; she’s probably the type that hates using public toilets and just holds it ‘til she gets home. Damn. I desperately search around for somewhere with a toilet. “Umm….” There’s a McDonalds over there, but… “How about in there?”

She lifts her head and follows my gaze to the store. “…Germs…” Thought so…

“…Well, can you hold it?” She shakes her head. Hmm. Wait! If she’s like Kai then maybe… “Do you have hand wipes?” A nod. Like brother, like sister. The two of them are neat freaks. “Then you can just use those to wipe the seat over, right?”

After thinking over it a bit she nods so we cross the road and make our way inside. Wow, it’s rather packed in here. I’ve never been to fast food restaurant before, Katerina always gets it home delivered or sends someone to get it for her. Tsubaki’s tight grip on my arm reminds me why we came here.

“I know, let’s go.” She doesn’t like crowds either it seems.

Twenty minutes later we finally leave. First I had to convince her that I couldn’t go in there with her. Then it looks like she had to wait in a line. I bet she wiped the seat over like fifty times… And people kept staring at me, so when she finally came out we left straight away. I don’t think I’ll be going there again anytime soon…

**……….**

Sigh, Katerina’s going to yell at me again for being late, fantasico… Tsubaki hugs my arm again. Oh, well. She’s been yelling at me a lot recently, she even hit me a few times. I could tell Padre but I always get beat up so there’s no point.

“…Ah! Kai-nii…” Tsubaki says and stop again. She’s right; he’s just down the road across the street.

I wave to him and call. “Kai!” He looks up and begins stalking towards us.

What happened next, I’ll never ever forget for my whole life. My ‘you are in danger’ instinct flared up. The last thing I did consciously was bend down and wrap myself protectively around Tsubaki.

She looked up at me questioningly, “Small ani—”

Then this petrol truck slammed into us.

When people talk about near death experiences they always say things like “time slowed down.” This is a total load of bull. Time cannot speed up or slow down. In fact, at the time, it _feels_ like everything speeds up not down.

The only reason they say it slows down is because you vividly remember every single damn millisecond of it down to the tiniest detail.

I remember locking eyes with Kai just before it hit us; his expression unnaturally panicked.

I remember Aigís wrapping himself protectively around us, just before the impact.

I remember Tsubaki’s scream and the way the metal bent and buckled as it slammed into Aigís’s barrier.

I remember the horrible sound of bones crunching as the truck flipped over us.

I remember the screams and cries of terror from all the people around us.

I remember the sound and smell of the oil as it began to spill from the tank.

I remember seeing the truck sparking and everything bursting into flames.

I remember the fire swirling all around devouring everything, except where we stood.

Every instinct screamed for me to ‘get the hell out of there!’ but I was trembling so much I couldn’t move. Then I heard Tsubaki sobbing into my blazer. Her eyes were squeezed shut and she was shaking all over too. I pushed all my terror aside and squeezed her gently.

“We need to move now. Okay?” It scared me how eerily calm my voice sounded.

She gave a stiff nod and we began to stumble through the blaze, Aigís keeping the fire from burning us. I ripped off my eye patch and lit up my own flame. I’d found out that it makes him stronger and I needed that strength if I was to protect Tsubaki.

We passed the crushed front of the truck, stepping carefully over broken glass, when I felt every hair on my body stand on end. _“Stop!”_ A raspy male voice commanded in Italian. Shivering I slowly turned around. A scream became stuck in my throat at what I saw.

The driver falling out the broken windscreen, legs crushed, blood streaming down his face and arms and he was practically being burnt alive! I instantly covered Tsubaki’s eyes.

 _“Curse you demon spawn!”_ He coughed up blood as he spoke.

**_What does he mean?_ **

_ Ne, did you know? _

_“Damn you, you cretin!”_ He twists around violently.

**_Doesn’t he feel pain!?_ **

_ In this world, there are only two choices. _

_“Cursed blood of the Vongola!”_ He pulls out a gun, it burns his hand.

**_I’m scared!_ **

_ Which will you choose? _

_“Go back to hell where you belong!”_ He flings his arm up holding the gun barrel to my head.

**_Am I… going to die?_ **

_ To live or to die? _

**_Going to die…?_ **

_ To be eaten or… _

**_No! I don’t want to die!_ **

_ To eat? _

Tsubaki whimpers in my hold and I hear Kai desperately shout our names. Oh… This is… the first time he’s called me… Cielo… Tears sting my eyes. I don’t want to die!

**_Ah! I see. The answer is so obvious now. It’s so simple._ **

**_Of course I just have to…_ **

There was a sickening crunch. And I heard somebody laughing. Who laughed?

**_To eat._ **

Blood spatters on my face and I hear a dull thud as something drops to the ground and rolls by my feet.  I look down and scream. Then everything just goes black.

I’ll never be able to erase it from my mind; the sight of that man’s lifeless body dangling over the front of the truck, Aigís’s form drenched in blood and the expression on the face of the head at my feet.

Oh, I remember now. The one who laughed… was me.

**………**

I woke up suddenly, in a bed covered in sweat and with tears rolling down my cheeks. At first I couldn’t think of where I was or why, then the horrifying memories came crashing down on me. I felt like throwing up, and immediately did so in a conveniently located bucket.

Having emptied my stomach I shakily take a look around the plain white room. This is not my house nor am I at Kai’s, so I must be at a hospital or something. I place the bucket aside and reach for the water on the table beside me. My whole body feels like it’s on fire.

I’ve been patched up a little and there’s a bandage wrapped over my left eye. After downing the whole jug I lift my hands to my face. My eye aches badly and it takes a lot of energy to move anything. I stare weakly at the glowing string that emanates from my chest and connects to Aigís.

I follow it with my eyes, all the way to the farthest corner of the room where Aigís sits facing away from me. “…” I have a little trouble finding my voice at first. “…H-hey…” I finally manage to croak out.

After a long pause he replies, **“…Hey…”** He still won’t face me.

“…Aigís?” I tremble a little. “Are you… mad… at me?” the last part comes out as a whisper.

This time turns around. **“Of course not! Why would I be mad at you? I’m the one who… who…”** he trails off.

We sit in awkward silence, unable to move nor speak to each other. Suddenly, tears begin to overflow and I try to wipe them away. Boys don’t cry after all.

 **“What? Hey! Are you okay? Do you hurt somewhere?”** He comes up beside me.

“Nothing. I’m just so glad you don’t hate me…!” I start to wail a little.

I so desperately want to grab hold of him and cry on his shoulder but it’s not possible. After all, even though we’re stuck together, I’ve never once been able to touch my closest friend. More tears build and I bring my knees up and hug them.

**“…I could never hate you… you’re too precious to me…I’ve always been beside you… But if you ever come to fear and despise me, I’ll find a way to leave your side.”**

“No! Don’t leave me, please! I don’t want to be alone!” I can’t stop the tears anymore. Heavy sobs rack my aching body as I weep into my knees.

 **“Okay, I get it. I’ll always be here. So please. Don’t cry.”** He forms a hand and reaches out for me but it just passes straight through.

My sobs echo around the room. I barely register the door being opened or the quiet footsteps approaching me. Not until I feel the big warm hand gently wrapping around my shoulders and the scent of coffee. I lift my head to see who it is and the tears fall even more freely. “… P-papa…”

He smiles and kisses my forehead. I latch onto his white suit jacket and cry into his shoulder while rubs my back and whispers gently in my ear. “Shhh, there, there now. You’re okay now, il mio leoncino.”

I can only wail in response and clutch tightly onto his clothes. He’s wearing the pinstripe shirt, white jacket and pinstripe pants and he’s holding his cape under his arm. He only wears this suit at important business meetings and the like. He must have dropped everything and come straight over here from the flight.

“Papa… I’m sorry… I’m sorry…” Apologies fall from my lips as cling to him. I’d broken my promise after all… I… to a person…

“Shhh, no bambino. It’s not your fault.” He wraps his arms around me tightly. “Your safe now and that’s all that matters. You really scared me there Cielo… I’m so relieved you’re alright…” His voice shook slightly and he held me closer to his chest.

We stay like this until I simply don’t have any more tears left to cry. Padre, he was always so calm, I’ve never seen him lose his cool before. But, I vaguely recall something similar to this happening before, when I was really small, back home in Italy. At first everything was bright and warm, and I remember playing together with Masamune and… someone else. Who was it?

But then, when was it I wonder, it was like everything just fell apart. And I knew, somehow, that Padre was trying so hard to hold everything together. I understood that he couldn’t hold me up as well as everyone else. He’s strong, the strongest person I know, but even he couldn’t bear the weight of everything on his shoulders.

I decided I had to grow up quickly. The faster I’d be able to take care of myself, the less of a burden I’d become for Padre. So up until now I had always thought I was an adult. I could look after myself and I didn’t need anyone’s help. But that’s wrong. I realise that now.

I desperately want my papa. No… I need my papa…

And… I want my mama too…


	9. The Graduation Project

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Final chapter of the Prelude! We get to see a little bit of what's going on in Masamune's head in this chapter. I did not intend for him to be "bad" per say... just really easily influenced by his Aunt, and he tends to listen to all the wrong kinds of advice...

I was discharged from hospital that evening. Apparently I’d been asleep for a whole day. Padre brought me a change of clothes and as I dressed he said we had to pick up Masamune. We were going to be staying with Padre at a hotel for a few days. “Just until things calm down.” He said.

I didn’t know whether to feel upset or relieved that I wouldn’t be able to see Kai or Tsubaki for a while. I heard the nurses talking about Tsubaki; how it was a miracle she came out of it without a single scratch. Although I was relieved, deep down inside, I felt it was my fault. If it hadn’t been for me, Tsubaki would have been totally safe… I’m scared of what they’ll think of me now… What if they come to fear and hate me like everyone else?

The doctors seem to be making a fuss as Padre was taking me to the car. But then I saw my Uncle Gokudera come over and talk to them for a bit as we walked away. I wonder briefly why he’s here. Oh, right he works for Padre; of course he’d be here. I don’t know what he said but they backed off immediately.

A man opened the door to the expensive looking black Italian car for us. I sat beside the window and clung to Padre’s arm as he sat down beside me. He smiled and ruffled my hair, then picked up some folders and began to read through them. As I thought, he came straight from work.

The car pulls away and I watch Uncle Gokudera get in the one behind us. I think I can see Uncle Yamamoto there as well. Guess they all came together or something. I wonder if my ‘other’ Madre is here too… I hope so.

Most of the way there we just sit in silence. But there’s been something that’s been bothering me for a while now. I want to ask him but I’m kinda scared to find out…

“Is there something you want to ask me?” He asks out of nowhere. Seriously, how does he do that?

“…um… Padre? What is ‘Vongola’?” Both that man and Katerina had said it so it can’t just be clams, right?

He paused and took a deep breath, so it is something important after all. “You’re a little bit young to understand right now. You’ll find out when you’re older.” I sulk a little and he ruffles my hair again. “If possible, I’d rather you live your whole life without knowing…”

He looks a little sad then. So it wasn’t the usual adult’s way of dodging the questions they don’t want to answer. I probably wouldn’t understand even if he told me. Well, I don’t really get complicated things anyway… The atmosphere in here has become heavy so I let it drop.

We sat in silence the rest of the way home. Aigís hadn’t said anything since Padre had arrived either…

**……….**

The past few weeks have really sucked for Masamune. He’s been stuck at home, unable to go out and play with his friends or even spend extra time at basketball or soccer practice. Then his dame brother had to go and get himself into a traffic accident.

Now his Mama Katerina was even more paranoid than ever!  She’s gone and locked him in his room! He wasn’t even able to go to school today! He’s grown bored of all the game consoles she bought for him. He has little interest in watching TV and he’s already gotten tired of his computer.

He has become bored of everything lately. Even soccer and basketball has lost its appeal. He’s lost all motivation to do anything, but he can’t stand doing nothing either, so he tries to satisfy his boredom with new toys, more games and spending more time with his friends. But nothing works…

He rolls over on his bed and stares at the easel and paints in the corner of his room. There was no doubt in his mind that he had talent for art. He had won many awards and everyone would always tell him he was talented. Katerina constantly encouraged him to paint and draw, and it made him quite popular. He’s always been praised highly for his art skills.

Except for that one time. He had shown his Padre a painting that won an award, his teacher and mama had been so proud of him. But all that man said was; “This is a lovely painting, but it’s fairly plain. Rather, it lacks feeling.”

Mama Katerina made a big fuss but Masamune looked at the painting again and realised he was right. It was a very boring, ordinary piece of work. How had he actually seen this as something good before? Why did he get an award for it?

And truth be told, he hates art. It bores him to death. It’s just pictures after all, it’s not like they actually _do_ anything. He can’t even draw anything unless he’s told what to draw. He only did it for the praise and popularity he received. _Everything_ he did was so he’d be praised and become popular.

Just like his Mama had taught him. He studied hard and got good grades so he’d stand out. He joined the soccer team because it was a popular sport, if he was a soccer star he’d gain many friends. He only joined the basketball team because they begged him; it made him look good in front of the adults and other kids.

He had learnt long ago how to manipulate people. It was another skill he learned from his mama. Not that she knows this; he learnt it mostly through observation. He was a very good liar and very good at playing the innocent victim. It was hilarious how a simple smile or pout could get the adults dancing in the palm of his hand.

Though, it never worked on him. Padre always saw through the lies easily, as if he could read minds. He is the only person that would scold him. It made him furious to no end knowing he could never beat that man! He often took that anger out on his dame brother, since the demon never fights back. He can’t believe he used to be so afraid of that coward!

With a sigh he rolls onto his back and thinks about the next school term. Even though he liked basketball more than soccer, it wasn’t as popular. He’d be better off doing soccer or maybe baseball in junior high… And there’s that boarding school too. He should go there, it was a better school and he’d do very well there, but it just doesn’t appeal to him.

His lack of motivation must be because he’s so troubled by all of this. He knows he should follow his mama’s advice; it was the most sensible thing to do. Yes, he should just go to that fancy school, get good grades, join the soccer or baseball team and gain many followers.

Then he’d graduate as an upstanding student and go to a good university. He was better at everything than his dame brother, so he should be the one to take over Padre’s company too, right? Even if he is the younger twin, he’s still the better choice. Mama Katerina had said it herself.

He was brought out of his thoughts when we heard a car door slam and the front door being opened. He heard someone running up the stairs and down the hall. Great, his dame brother was back already. Maybe he could finally get out of here. He moved to the door and pressed his ear to it.

Mama Katerina was arguing with someone downstairs. Ah! That, annoyingly, calm baritone! It was his Padre. Why was he here? Because of the accident? Yeah right. He only cared about his work. Why else would he have sent them off to live here in Japan with their aunt? What a useless father.

**………**

Masamune sat sulking in the car beside his Padre. True he’d finally been let out of his room, but now he’s going to be stuck with his dame brother and father at some hotel for who knows how long! With only his iPod, phone and game boy for entertainment this is going to be a very long stay…

He glanced over at his dame brother clutching that stupid guitar. It’s too big and bulky, and he looks ridiculous when he plays it. Why the heck did he go and buy that dumb thing anyway? It’s not like being able to play a little music would make him popular or anything. Though he doubt he’d be able to play anything at all. Yeah, that’ll be the day.

“Cielo. Is that the guitar you bought?” Padre asks while signing some documents.

“Yep!” He unzips the cover and opens it enough to see inside. “It’s cool, isn’t it?”

Padre just chuckles a little. “Isn’t it a little too big and heavy for you?” That’s an understatement Masamune thinks as he rolls his eyes

“Just a little. But I drink a carton of milk every day so it’s all good.” What an idiot. Masamune tried not to roll his eyes again.

“But, why that guitar? Wouldn’t a smaller one would be easier for you to play?”

“It was love at first sight.” The idiot proclaims while hugging it tightly.

The sheer stupidity of that statement left Masamune completely dumbfounded, while their father just laughed a little. “Hahaha. You sound exactly like your mother.”

Huh? Dame Sora is like their mother? That’s not what Mama Katerina had said. She always said that his brother was nothing like their mother. _He_ was the one that was the one that was exactly like her, wasn’t he?

“…Papa?” Cielo asks quietly and leans against his shoulder, “What kind of person was Mama. I don’t really remember…”

This peaked Masamune’s interest. He also wanted to know more about his real Mama. Though Mama Katerina had told him many things, but he wanted to hear what his father had to say about her.

“Hmmm…” Padre tilted hid head back in thought. “That’s right… She was a very bright and bubbly person. She was quick to cry, but then she’d suddenly switch to laughing. She was quite athletic but clumsy, and a bit of an air head. She ate a lot too, but couldn’t cook to save her life.” He placed the papers on his lap and wrapped his arms around their shoulders.

“She loved art. You might not remember but the three of you would sit together and just paint for hours on end. Cleaning up afterwards was always such a pain. There’d be paint absolutely everywhere!” He laughed at the memory.

Masamune could vaguely recall sitting on a women’s lap, her long slender hand guiding the paintbrush in his own tiny hand. It was a very warm memory. Yet, he couldn’t even remember what she looked like. Maybe… he’d try to paint again. It might jog his memory…

“I want to see Mama again…” Cielo whispered.

“…Papa also wants to see her again.” Padre replied sadly. Masamune was silent. He too wanted to feel the warmth of that time again… Pretending he fell asleep, he leaned further into his father’s warm embrace.

That night, with the pretext that his bed was too uncomfortable, he slipped into Padre’s bed. He was sitting awake in bed typing away at the laptop with the lamp on. He didn’t mind that much though and burrowed beneath the sheets, the sound of keys tapping lulling him to sleep.

Then he heard his dame brother’s voice from the other side of the bed; “We’re the river kanji~.” His father just chuckled.

What an idiot. He thought as he pulled the sheets over his head, hiding his red cheeks.

**………**

We didn’t leave the hotel until the last day of school, so we could attend the graduation ceremony. I was still so nervous about seeing Kai so I tried my best to avoid him. It was easy enough to just blend into the background since I don’t really stand out that much. After all I am ‘dame’ Sora; no one pays much attention to me.

As soon as Masamune walked through the gate he was swamped by all his followers. Somehow he managed to turn his absence and Katerina’s paranoia into something that gave him more popularity. I’ll bet only bad rumours have spread about me because of it though…

We received our new uniforms yesterday and have to wear them to today’s ceremony. It was a bit depressing to find that Masamune wouldn’t be going to that fancy boarding school after all. Oh well, it’s not the end of the world. When Padre saw us in our uniforms he said that it had changed since he was a student there.

We both wore white button up shirts, red blazers, black vests, red plaid ties, black pants (the girls have bows and skirts instead) and dark brown lace up boots. It looked smarter than our old uniforms and I’d managed to keep my appearance decent today (with Padre’s help though…).

I had absolutely no idea what to do at the ceremony itself so I just copied everyone else. There were a few really long speeches by the principal and the vice principal. Then they called up the top student of our year to represent us in a farewell speech. My eyes became impossibly wide when I saw who it was.

 **“So, little Kai-chi really is number one in the school.”** Well, he does get really good marks…

His speech was very short and he stood so stiffly. He must have been so nervous… his expression looked as though he was about to murder everyone in the room. It left quite the impact. When he turned around to take his seat I could see that he was actually trying to hold back his tears…

Then one by one we were called up to receive a diploma tucked away inside a cylinder case. Luckily I managed not to trip, that ‘fate’ guy must be screwing with someone else today. We had to bow to the students and parents, then to the teachers and lastly to the principal and vice principal. I saw a few mums crying out there, some of the teachers were too.

I’d be crying too, but for a different reason. They’ll be tears of joy! So long bastardo maths teacher, I don’t have to listen to you drone on anymore! Adios Sawa-chan, no more will I have to test your poison tea or deal with your weirdness! Sayonara to the majority of the bullies, have fun at your new schools!

And arrivederci to you Kyoko-sensei, you can’t bother me now! I don’t really have anything against her but, Dio, that woman is so annoying! She always has to call me up to answer questions, like she’s trying to humiliate me! She always has that damn smile on her face. I hate it when adults pretend they care, I despise fake smiles the most.

But her smile is so creepy, like you can’t tell whether or not she’s actually happy or if her face is just stuck like that. It’s bright and warm but there’s no real feeling in it. I hate her half-arsed kindness, I hate her warmth and I hate her gentleness. No one just gives away kindness freely like that. It’s a superficial lie so they can sleep better at night. Almost all adults are liars. I hate liars…

After the ceremony ended we had a few hours to say goodbye and tie up any loose ends. I had a chat with Sawa-chan; she did look after me, somewhat, over the past five years. I should at least say thanks I guess… She practically crushed me in a hug while crying and then made me try another weird tea. My instincts told me drinking not to drink it.

**………**

A short while after I finally escaped I rounded a corner and immediately went back around. I could have sworn I just saw Haru-nee dressed as student. No, it’s not possible. There’s no way. No. Just no. I shake my head and take off in the opposite direction.

 **“I think you should watch where you’re going—”** Slam! I walk straight into someone. **“Like I said…”**

I look up to apologise and nearly faint. I ran into Kai!? Why? He should have been patrolling the grounds for the kids who think they can get away with anything because they’ve graduated. He does it every year and bites someone to death every time… Merda, that ‘fate’ bastardo must have returned…

“We need to talk.” It wasn’t a suggestion, but a command.

“H-hai!” There was no arguing with the beast when he’s pissed. So I followed him up to the roof to my doom. We just stood in awkward silence for a while, neither of knew what to say.

 **“Just get it over with already! What’s the worst that could happen?”** He could stop being my friend Aigís, that’s the worst that could happen… But we can’t stay like this forever.

“Umm… is Tsubaki… okay?” I ask cautiously…

“Hn… fine… just shaken up…” He answers nonchalantly.

It feels like a weight is lifted off my chest. “That’s a relief…”

“You… I think it’s about time you told me.” A demand not a suggestion.

“Told you what?” I have a sinking feeling in my gut.

He approaches me until he’s right in front of my face. “I was there, small animal, I saw what you did.” There was no malice or fear in his voice. I could only find myself believing in him.

It’ll be okay, won’t it? I took a deep breath, not really knowing where to start.

“Ever since I was born I’ve been… different.” I raise my hand to my chest and idly grab at the threat that binds Aigís to me. “I’m… You see… I was born with… a gift. That… that’s what my Padre called it.” I swallow hard, my throat feels so dry. “I-I have this… friend; he’s always been beside me. His name is Aigís.”

We sat down side by side as I told him everything. Somehow it all just spilt out. How I discovered my differences when I was about three. How everyone looked at me with scorn and fear. The pain and loneliness I felt and the strange unyielding rage. And then the time I just couldn’t take it anymore and just exploded.

I just lost control and went on a rampage at school. A lot of people got hurt and afterwards Padre pulled us out of school. I’d promised Padre, and myself, that I’d never hurt someone like that again. Then we were forced to move here. I even told him about the discovery of my flame and how I’d been teaching myself how to control it.

He just sat and listened to my every word in silence, his expression neutral. It was so strange. I’d come to understand that no matter how many times I tried to explain, no one would understand. They only ever believed in what their eyes saw; even if they did see something, they just chose to ignore it. It was like the whole world had decided I was wrong.

And yet, I could see it in his eyes that he believed me. The same way Padre and my ‘other’ Madre did. I almost started to cry but then he suddenly pinched my cheeks and pulled. “So you’re an idiot after all, small animal.” He states before letting go.

I rubbed my sore cheeks. Damn, it hurts. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Hn.” He ignored me and knocked me on the head with my diploma. Wait. Why does he have my diploma? “You left this in the nurses’ office.”

Seriously!? When did he…? Could it be that…? Was he looking for me? “T-thank you.” I stutter as he hands it back to me.

His cheeks turn slightly pink and he turns away. “School is about to end.” He states before heading back down stairs. I can’t help but smile as I follow him down. I feel so stupid for worrying. Kai would never abandon me like everyone else. He’s different from them.

Somehow, it feels as though the distance between us has become ever so slightly smaller.

**………**

Finally! It’s all over! I am officially free of this damn place! With all my things packed up I make my way to the front gate, where Padre is waiting for us. Lots of parents are already there with their kids. For once my shoe locker is totally clean, guess they were too busy with graduation to bother with me today.

I scan the crowd in search of Padre. I spot him over by the front gate and begin to make my way over to him. I want to hurry up and leave this damn place. It looks like he’s talking o someone but I can’t see who it is with all these people in my way. I keep getting shoved around and knocked over. These damn people have no manners…

Suddenly something slams into me and nearly knocks me over again. I regain my balance and look down to find Tsubaki gripping my blazer tightly. Suddenly, my mind flashed back to the crash and how she had held onto me crying. I flinched and pushed her off me, my hands still gripping her shoulders as I take in her expression.

She wasn’t crying. In fact, she looked at me with relief and happiness in her eyes. I don’t understand, but, I’m so overwhelmed with relief that I feel I might cry. Tsubaki starts to speak. “…Small animal—”

“CHII-KUN!”

She’s cut off when I’m Yuuka Kaa-san runs up and tackles me in a hug. This is the second time today I’ve been crushed in a hug by a woman. She looks pretty fancy in a ceremonial kimono, with her hair done up and wearing makeup. Her eye makeup’s a bit smudged though…

She starts rambling hysterically. “Chii-kun! I’ve been so worried! I heard-- the crash! A-and Tsu-chi was-- And then Kai-chi—and, and, and… you… in hospital… ” She trails off hiccupping.

Oh Dio! She’s starting to cry! Crap, what do I do?

 **“Don’t panic! J-just try to calm her down!”** Easier said than done!

The other parents start glancing at us and murmuring amongst themselves. Those insensitive maiali! As if they have the right to gossip and stare when they’ve made just as big a fuss as Yuuka Kaa-san during the ceremony!

Before I can say anything to her, Tsubaki hands her a handkerchief. “Kaa-san… here…”

She sniffles and takes it from her. “T-thank you… Tsu-chi.” She says between hiccups and wipes away her tears. Nice save Tsubaki!

It’s actually kinda strange to have someone worry over me… I don’t know what I should be feeling; happy or guilty… It’s a really weird emotion…

Kai appeared a little while after she calmed down. And after another bone crushing hug from Yuuka Kaa-san and a threat from Tsubaki to never disappear suddenly again, we part ways. I hope we won’t have to stay at the hotel for the whole spring break; I’ll have to visit them at least once or I’ll be stabbed to death…

With I sigh I tried once again to make my way over to Padre. Finally I get close enough to see who he’s talking to… Oh, fantastico… he just had to be chatting happily away with Kyoko-sensei, didn’t he? Why do you hate me so much, Dio? What did I ever do to you?

Masamune is already there, standing a little ways off chatting with some friends. Guess they’re just waiting for me… Sigh; let’s just get this over with then. I start to slowly make my way over but freeze mid step when I see who else is there.

**“…Okay… Seriously. Why is that crazy chick pretending to be an elementary school kid?”**

More like, why doesn’t anybody seem to care there’s an adult pretending to be a student here! Haru-nee… what the diamine are you doing? And Padre, why are you even talking to her? Don’t you find this even just a little bit strange?

“Ah!” Curses, I’ve been spotted… “Sora-kun!” Kyoko-sensei calls and waves me over.

Unable to escape or pretend I don’t know them, I slowly trudge up next to Padre. “K-konnichiwa Kyoko-sensei, H-Haru-nee…” Well I can’t exactly ignore them…

“Hahi! Konnichiwa Cielo! My! You look so handsome in your new uniform!” Haru-nee beams happily.

“T-thanks…” I want to ask about her clothes, but… I just can’t bring myself to say anything…

“Oh? The two of you have met before?” Padre raises a brow at Haru-nee. How are you just talking to her so normally Padre! Oh screw it… I don’t care anymore…

“We met by chance some time ago! I was quite surprised when to discover Cielo was Tsuna’s son! The two of you look so much alike too!” She forgot to mention all the other ‘chance’ encounters we’ve had…

“Me too!” Kyoko-sensei pitches in. “I had no idea little Sora-kun was Tsu-kun’s son!” Isn’t my last name a dead giveaway…? “But, he really does look so much like you Tsu-kun.”

I get the feeling these two seem to know my father from before. Well, Haru-nee did say she was friends with him during middle school, but Kyoko-sensei? Please don’t tell me she was your friend too Padre… From the way they’re speaking she probably was…

They chat for a while longer, Padre smiling pleasantly the whole time. When can we leave dammit! If I had known this would happen I would have talked with Kai, Tsubaki and Yuuka Kaa-san some more… But then again they said they were going to meet their father now, so I wouldn’t have been able to talk much anyway...

It was another hour or so later before we finally said goodbye to Haru-nee and Kyoko-sensei.

**………**

Life pretty much went back to normal by the end of spring break. We stayed with Padre at the hotel for a while before moving back in with Katerina. Shortly after that Padre went back to Italy and then, it was like nothing had ever happened. All the men in black disappeared and Katerina went back to her old self again.

What was all that about anyway? I suppose I’ll never know…

The new school term was starting and with it my life would begin a new page.

Or so I thought…

Kai probably left at some ungodly hour and Masamune was driven to school, so I had to figure out the bus schedule myself. I got it wrong and got on the wrong bus. Got bitten to death for being late. Got lost trying to find my classroom. Got detention. Got beat up by Masamune and his thugs.

Was sent to the nurses’ office. I was nervous as to how I would get on with the new nurse. Only to find that Sawa-chan had followed me from the elementary school… I don’t know whether to cry or laugh…

I suppose it was exactly how I should have expected it to be… I am dame Sora after all. A failure at sport, always clumsy, a D grade student and a social outcast… It’s not like I can just change. There’s no point in trying to be something you’re not…

Yep, it’s just another day in the life of dame Sora.


End file.
